


Can A Vampire be A Cat Person?

by Plantsrule20009



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora!vampire, Catra!werecat, Coffee Shops, F/F, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Silly, light-hearted mostly, monster au, slight cultish insinuations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:41:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 41,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24350728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plantsrule20009/pseuds/Plantsrule20009
Summary: Adora is a monster, Catra is an shapeshifter. Fluff ensues.Catradora Monster AU with a side of coffee shop AU
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Entrapta/Perfuma (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Comments: 78
Kudos: 500





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Everyone,
> 
> So this has taken me forever to write. Turns out writing for maximum fluff is hard for an aromantic writer.  
> Anyway, I finally have enough of the story written that I'm confident I'll finish and get it done even sooner with the pressure of continuing to post new chapters.  
> I still cant believe Catradora is really canon. I started writing this about a week after Season 4 aired because I needed something to get my mind off the angst, and now like six months later Catradora actually happened among a bunch of other wonderful ships.  
> I hope everyone like my idea! There will be some angst but will have a happy ending. 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Venti mocha frap with quad shots!”

“Ugh finally!,” Catra snatched up her drink without thanking anybody and ran out the door. She only had 20 minutes to get to work or Weaver would skin her alive for being late again.

Catra happened to look at the name on the side of the cup as the door to the shop closed behind her.

Cathera was written in loopy sharpie. 

_ God dammit not again! _

Catra fumed at the obvious misspelling but she was so late she couldn’t go back now. 

This had to have been the third time this had happened. She made a note to kill whoever wrote her name wrong the next time she went in for coffee as she started up her car and sped out of the parking lot to try to get to work on time. 

Over the next several weeks Catra continued her morning routine of getting some absurd espresso infused monster. It was always made with care, and it was always amazing. 

Except her own fucking name.

Every single damn time she went in her name was butchered in some new and awful way. Every morning she fumed as she left seeing how it was spelled this time. Yet she never went back in because she was either super late or didn’t have enough caffeine in her yet to raise hell. 

Finally one morning she decided enough was enough and did the unthinkable. She woke up early. Ugh. AND she had herself a big cup of strong coffee before leaving for her usual coffee run so she had enough sense to tell whoever thought themselves so clever to mess up her name what was what and get it to stop. 

Walking into the café with a purpose, Catra strode up to the cash register. Ready to give her order and say her name in the clearest and most easily understood way she could possibly muster. She didn’t want any chances it was her own mumbling or something that had been the cause of this name mishap. 

“Hey, good morning! What can I get for you today? Oh wait don’t tell me I know this! Venti quad shot mocha frap. No it's cold this morning, you want it hot today?” the girl behind the counter spun off like she’d been studying all night for this conversation. 

Café Employee was way taller than Catra. She had such radiant blonde hair it almost glowed. Deep blue eyes that pierced all reality stared into Catras soul. Adora was written on her name-tag.

_ Oh no she’s hot _ .

Catra didn’t tend to do well with attractive women talking to her. She usually said the wrong thing or made them trip over something or some other equally embarrassing thing. 

Wait and she knew Catras order. 

By heart. 

Like it was nothing. 

Fuck, it was cold out this morning too. 

Fuck, she really was thinking about getting a hot mocha today. 

_ Fuck me sideways. _

“Oh umm…yeah I guess. Actually no! I want it as a frap,” Catra couldn’t let this chick win. Because it was totally a competition now and she needed to win. 

“Of course, one venti quad mocha frap coming right up. Slide your card when you’re ready,” Adora rattled on as Catra fumbled for her wallet and putting her debit card to use, “Thanks, that’ll be ready in just a minute,” fuck that smile was divine. 

Catra stepped aside and scrolled on her phone while she waited. A small voice in her head crept up. It was saying something.  _ In a second, lemme finish reading this meme.  _

It obliged until Catra had a good chuckle. She only got out half of it though because she swallowed the rest of it 

Her name. 

Catra had completely forgotten to say her name and that chick,  _ Adora _ , never asked. Dammit, it really was her own doing this whole time. She spent the rest of her wait stewing bitterly, trying not to blow up at her own stupidity. 

“Venti mocha up!” the dark skinned guy shouted as he finished putting whip cream in Catras drink. 

Catra quietly went to the counter and snatched the drink without saying anything, wanting to get this whole ordeal over with. Maybe she’d look for a new coffee joint while she was at work today. 

As Catra left the building, taking a drink, she had to begrudgingly admit it was perfect as always. Loopy handwriting stole her attention though as she swallowed her first sip. What did it say? 

She twisted the cup around to read what was written. 

Cshatherzra

Catra did a double take.

Yup, that’s what it said. 

The loopy handwriting, the same as always, so airy and happy looking and so easy to read it was unbearable. 

Cshatherzra. 

That motherfucking cashier was the bane of Catras existence! For weeks it must have been her that was causing all this turmoil in Catras life. Okay not turmoil, but a serious First World Problem that needed fixing!

Catra swiveled on her feet and marched back into the café, ready to give this cashier a piece of her mind. Without a word she strode right up to the cash register and waited for the blonde to turn around from her work so Catra could yell in her face properly. 

When she finally did, the smile was still plastered on her face, Catra was ready though, “hey, what the hell is this? Is this how you think my name is spelled? It’s bullshit!” Catra waved the drink in the girl's face. 

“Oh good morning again Catra, what can I do for you? Did your drink not come out right?” She still had that smile on. It waned Catras rage. 

“No it's fine, I guess,” Catra muttered out as her anger dipped, “but you can’t keep misspelling my name wrong like this! I have half a mind to call corporate or something!” as the words left her mouth, Catra realized three things. 

First, even with her threats, the smile on Adora never waved. In fact, it looked like it was getting bigger. The smile was beginning to reach her eyes and making them sparkle somehow. Her hair still shone and she was perfectly clean, her uniform didn't have a single stain.

Second, Adora smelled absolutely wonderful. It was clean and peaceful. Content? Or was that Catra feeling relaxed at the smell. 

Lastly, Adora had uttered Catras name perfectly. God dammit that smile was still getting bigger. And she smelled good. It was completely derailing Catras anger.

“Oh I’m so sorry,” Adora said, not missing a beat, “I was actually seeing how long it would take you to notice. I’ve been getting desperate finding new ways to mess up your name,” the cashier spoke, smile getting bigger, now turning into a shit eating grin. 

Catra loved and hated it. 

Again, she realized how amazing Adora looked. Catra had nothing to say. All of her wind was blown out as it dawned on her as Adora was just playing a joke on her. 

How dare she! 

But Catra wasn’t as mad as she thought she would be. She had to admit that underneath the faux anger, had kind of enjoyed the crazy name spellings Adora had come up with. She had used them once or twice when signing something at work. 

When Catra didn’t say anything, Adora spoke up again, this time sounded a little less sure of herself, “sorry if I offended you, I thought you looked like someone who might enjoy a little morning humor. It um.. it won’t happen again,” she seemed deflated. Some of the radiance in Adoras hair faded. 

Catra needed to think fast, she liked this café, it was cute and made damn good coffee, and Adora worked here and seemed like kind of a cool person. She didn’t want to leave on that note, she’d never be able to let herself come back in here with that reputation. 

“Oh uhh… it’s no big deal I guess. I never really thought about it that way until just now. I did like some of the spellings. I didn’t know there were so many ways to spell my name,” Catra let out a chuckle. 

She could be a real bitch when she wanted but she was working on not being a real bitch and this seemed like one of those ‘perfect opportunities’ Scorpia was always talking about. 

Adora seemed to perk up a little again, the smile returning to her face, “there isn’t, like I said, I was getting desperate,” she let out her own small laugh that Catra returned, “um this might be a little forward but would you like to hang out sometime? We could get coffee,” Adora said humorously. 

_ Oh god that was awful but I still somehow like it. _ Catra let out a real laugh this time at how bad the joke was. 

“Are you asking me on a date?” Catra said once she was done smiling.

“I umm… yes?” a tiny blush began to creep up Adoras cheeks. 

Catra was actually making someone blush right now. This was definitely a first. Usually Catra left destruction in her wake. It was not entirely unpleasant, she decided. 

Adora continued, “but it’s okay if you don’t want it to be. I just wanted to maybe get to know you. You seem cool. And stuff.”

Jesus, where did this awkward dork come from? Just a second ago she was cool as a cucumber. This was getting more interesting by the second. Catra decided she wanted to draw this out a little more. 

“Hmmm… maybe. It depends on where you want to take us,” Catra said flirtatiously. It seemed to work judging by the blush reaching Adoras ears now. 

“How about I text you. We can figure out the details later. Can I have your number?” Adoras voice was, hopeful? 

Catra wasn’t sure why, was she actually sounding cool and not already totally strung up high by this literal angel in front of her. Hook, line and sinker. Her mind told her no, but for the first time in a long time her heart spoke up louder saying ‘yes goddammit’.

“Yeah sure, what the hell. Here give me your phone. You can shoot me a text so I can add you too,” now it was Catras did what she could to keep that cool facade in the wake of Adoras apparent floundering. It seemed that she hadn’t practiced this far into the conversation. Catra had to hide a laugh at how adorable it was. 

Her inner paranoid demons spouted all that was wrong with this conversation and how she would be let down again but Catra continued to ignore them. 

But it had been so long since Catra opened herself at all to anyone. Scorpia didn’t count because she could force open anyone no matter how clammed up they were. Catra decided to take a leap of faith with this weird cashier barista girl that seemed to have an interest in her. 

It took a week or so but Catra kept up a slow string of texting with Adora. It picked up as time went on and before long, they were texting almost constantly. Catra really enjoyed talking to Adora. they had a lot of differences but also a lot of similarities. They mingled well together and made for easy and fun talking. The beginnings of a crush set in as Catras next transformation loomed. 

She decided to wait until after her next were-cat transformation before taking Adora up on her offer for a date or not date, whatever Catra chose. Without answering the aforementioned question, Catra asked where Adora was going to take her. 

A simple dinner together. Nothing fancy, no strings attached. Just two people getting to know each other. 

They settled on a casual restaurant both of them had been to before and set a date for the next time their off days coincided. 

…

Everything had gone smoothly. Conversation at the restaurant flowed nicely and it never got awkward. Adora wasn’t sure if it was her own…affliction, or if there really was some chemistry happening. A voice in the back of her head alerted her yet again that going on dates was not a good idea. 

_ Well maybe I just want to make a friend. I left it up to her to decide if this was a date or not, even if she never said one way or the other. _

Adora was forced back into the present as she heard Catra smack her lips as the drink she ordered arrived.

“Aww man I love the margaritas here. How's your beer?” Catra said, giving Adora the floor. 

“It's not too bad, I'm usually too basic for local brews but this ones pretty good,” it was true though, it was an expensive beer but it was good enough to get again the next time she came here. 

“Noice. Glad to hear it,” Catra grinned before taking another sip of her drink, “alright now for the necessary icebreakers. Did you go to college?” Catra said with something like annoyance but Adora found it endearing. She could tell it was a play, trying to act nonchalant. 

“Yes I did though I kind of wish I didn’t. History Majors don't make much of a salary,” Adora chuckled, “I do love history though and getting to really dive into it was a lot of fun. I do wish it hadn’t cost so much.”

Aside from the usual historical moments she loved to learn about, it was a convenient out to study everything she could learn about her own problem.

Not problem. Gift. 

Adora had to remind herself even if she knew it was crap. Her friends had spent so long trying to get her to see the good in her illness but Adora knew it was just to make her feel better. She was a vampire, plain and simple. 

She didn’t want to dwell on it now though. She was meeting and getting to know someone new. Maybe a date? Catra had expertly evaded answering the question every time Adora asked, but she was happy how easily they spent this time together as well as the texting they’d sent back and forth over the last week or two. 

“I feel that,” Catra remarked, “that’s why I decided not to go for a long time. That and family pressure to never move away finally pushed me,” she paused, Adora could see Catras gears turning, “but that’s really cool you got to learn about something you’re interested in. I think too many people go to college just to get a degree to make money.”

“Yeah, I knew going in I would never make money, but I was gently pressured to at least try for some kind of degree so that’s what I chose. What about you?” 

“I have to work full time so I can only take one or two classes a semester, but I’m currently going for a music major. But I enjoy it and it's really helped with my music reading and understanding,” Catra smiled. It made Adora smile too. She barely knew this person but it made her happy to see Catra happy. 

The crush she had on the person in front of her was worsening by the minute.

A happy silence took over as they continued sipping their drinks. Their food didn’t take too long to arrive and they happily dug in. 

The rest of the evening was awesome, Adora had a great time. It had been a long time since she’d allowed herself to go on a date. Or not a date. Whatever this thing she was doing right now. She and Catra chatted idly as they ate, nothing too deep but still interesting and they learned more about each other.

Out in the parking lot, Adora stood in front of Catra before they parted ways for the evening. 

“Hey, so uhh… you never answered my question over whether this was a date or not,” Adora said nervously. 

“Right,” Catra said nervously, “I would l.. like to be friends with you. I would say yes, this was a date. But I'm sorry I don’t know if I can have a relationship right now. I have a lot of stuff in my life and I don’t want to drag you down with it. I totally want to be friends though. Maybe we can try later on down the line?” 

Even though Adora knew she shouldn’t have any heightened senses right now since she recently took her meds, she could still smell the sweat on Catra. She seemed to be telling the truth but it still stung. Adora knew she probably shouldn’t try dating herself. She had gotten tied up in the moment and wanted to enjoy someone else, someone new. 

Bow and Glimmer probably wouldn’t approve either. It was only a matter of time before something bad would happen to Catra, they would say. Maybe as friends though, Adora could gain a new friend and not put her in possible danger. 

“Okay. I understand. I guess I have a lot going on right now too. I would like to be friends though if you want to. Maybe we could hang out again sometime. We could invite some of our other friends so it doesn’t get awkward or something,” Adora nearly stuttered out. She needed to say the right things to not mess up this very important conversation.

Even though Catra had denied Adora, she still seemed to deflate at what Adora said. 

_ I wonder what's going on in her life? _

_ I guess I’ll find out in time if we stay friends. I hope we can be friends. _

“That sounds great. I’ll keep texting you okay? And I still expect you to come with new ways to write my name wrong on my coffee every morning,” Catra said, crossing her arms in front of her and smirking. 

Just like that the awkwardness faded. 

“I'm going to have to up my game I guess. I’ve still got some good ones packed away somewhere,” Adora remarked, keeping the playfulness and starting to let her competitive nature come out, “is it okay if I hug you before we go?”

Catra seemed taken aback by Adora's statement. Did she overstep just now? Stupid Adora.

“Wow, no one has asked me that before. Usually I get hugged without being asked. Yes, I would like a hug. Thanks uhh… for asking beforehand,” Catra said, a smile on her lips as she spread her arms and walked into Adoras. 

Adora realized this crush she had probably wasn’t going away anytime soon. At least Catra didn’t seem like she was going to ghost her or anything. Maybe someday Adora would be ready again to take a step forward and really let someone into her life that wasn’t Bow or Glimmer. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone,
> 
> The world is hard right now. We went from quarantine to protests across the country. 
> 
> Black Lives Matter. 
> 
> No ifs, ands, or buts. 
> 
> WARNING: This isn't as cheery as the first chapter. There's a lot of negative thoughts and emotions going on here. If you're not in the right place to read about heavy topics, I would suggest skipping over this chapter for now. That said, I promise this is a happy story, it is intended to have lots of fluff but there is a character arc both Catra and Adora will go through but i think the angst and hard topics make it all feel more genuine and hard-won.

The next day at the café, Bow and Glimmer grilled Adora for literally hours on her date 'thing' the night before. Bow, as usual, was supportive and wanted to know everything. Glimmer, as usual, was worried and thought everyone was out to get Adora.

They both asked far too many questions for Adoras liking.

“How did it go? What did you talk about?”

“Are you sure you should be dating right now? I know you’ve been okay recently but I worry.”

“What are her hobbies and aspirations?”

“She's not trying to hurt you is she?”

“Oh my freaking god guys cut it out already. I'm about to walk out here,” Adora breathed, willing control to come back to her. She could tell her medicine was wearing out, she could feel herself getting hungry as her anger grew, “we had a good time but we both agreed to stay friends. It sounds like she has as much stuff going on as I do. Please don’t bring it up anymore and for the love of god don’t talk to her about it. Let me introduce you guys when I’m ready to do that, okay? I don’t want to scare her off. Can you do that for me?” Adora said exhausted. She never slept well around the time she needed to take her medicine. 

Bow spoke up, a bit defeated, “Sorry Adora, it's just been so long since you’ve talked about anyone and you seem really happy. We just want what's best for you. I know you'll be safe if you do keep seeing her.”

“Thanks Bow, now can we talk about this later, I’m starting to get a headache.”

The door to the café opened and the first customer in too long walked in. Adoras heart stopped as she realized it was Catra coming in for her morning cuppa joe. 

_ Oh god please don’t embarrass me Bow and Glimmer I beg you. _

“Hey, sup Adora?” Catra said as she strode up to the cash register. 

Adora swallowed trying to remember her cashier script, “good morning. I'm alright,”  _ don't sound so enthusiastic, “ _ uhh… what can I get for you today Catra?” 

“You doing okay? You’re looking a bit pale,” Catra noted. 

Oh man was she really that far gone already? This round of meds barely lasted a week. 

Old, bad, memories of times Adora's meds ran out unfortunate times surfaced. Like that one time at summer camp when Glimmer had to go home early. The government agents were the ones that found her like twenty miles from the camp grounds. 

Adora realized how much the people around her smelled. Bow smelled like old books, Glimmer of coffee obviously. Catra above all caught Adora’s nose. She smelled wonderful. Musky and feral almost. Still unknown in some ways that gave Adora a strange jolt of excitement. 

Tasty. 

_ Nope. No stop that, bad brain. For shame. _

Adora snuffed those thoughts out as quickly as she could. If she felt better she knew she would be sweating like crazy. 

It seemed like she needed to heal herself ASAP based on how dry and inhuman she felt. It was days like this that reminded Adora how much her illness had taken from her. Over-exertion that burned through her medicine and an increasingly hard time being under the sun for too long, made playing sports all but impossible. 

_ Not now brain please. _

“Oh yeah I'm fine. Just a bit of a cold. The usual then?” Adora smiled without showing her teeth. Her incisors felt like they took up her whole face as she became more and more aware of her body.

Why did they always have to grow so fast once she started getting hungry?

Catra regarded Adoras answer before simply confirming her question. The normal would do fine. Adora put it through the register and let Bow take over making the drink. 

“Your drink will be in its usual spot in a minute. Sorry, I need to go check something in the back,” Adora said quickly, not giving Catra time to answer before ducking into the backroom to get her mind off how hungry she was and how good everyone smelled. 

Adora pushed her head into the freezer in the back. It didn't feel that cold but it was something to think about. She had found that the cold was something that could take her mind off of, well her insatiable hunger. 

How many times had she had to run to find somewhere safe so there was no way she could hurt anyone?

How many times had she been told to keep her head down by the government agents that seemed to know every time she left the house or spoke to someone.

It felt like the world was out to get Adora. She knew it wasn't the case but of course her meds would stop working the day after the first date she'd been on in years and that person just happened to walk in the door as everything crumbled inside Adora's brain. 

“Hey you doing okay?” said a voice from behind Adora. 

“I'm fine, I just need a minute. I guess I burned through my meds,” Adora said, trying to keep herself focused on the cold. It never ceased to amaze her how quickly her symptoms would creep up on her if she wasn't paying attention.

“Is it your symptoms?” Glimmer said in her usual motherly voice.

“Yeah.”

“Wow, you really burned through it this time. Maybe we should up your dose?”

“God Glimmer can we not talk about this now? We’re at work.”

“Fine fine, here have some before you get worse.”

Adora listened to the pocket knife Glimmer always kept on her slide out of her pocket. A sick sense of happiness and dread washed over her. She hated how just the sound of that knife leaving Glimmers pocket would make her salivate. Not to mention the whole situation. 

Adora was at work right now, head firmly inside a freezer. Catra, the person Adora had had a crush on for a while, was now waiting on the other side of the wall. Her scent still in the air. To top it off, it was looking like Adora would have to take Glimmer up on taking her medication here and now with the strong possibility of a second dose at home later that night. 

Ugh. 

Adora slowly extricated her head from the freezer and watched as Glimmer flipped open the pocket knife and put it to her finger. 

“I don't need too much. Just give me enough to get to the end of the day until we get home tonight.”

“If you're sure. I don't want you to go too hard. You know what can happen if you do.” 

"I  _ know _ . I would rather do it in private later tonight. Can I have a few drops or what?" 

Adora didn't need to look when Glimmer sliced open her finger, she smelled it easily. 

Her consciousness came back sometime after Glimmer had already bandaged her finger and was talking to Catra around the front counter. it was honestly nicer when Adora didn’t remember lapping up Glimmers blood, at least then she could sort of pretend it didn't happen. 

"Hey Adora, are you done cleaning that freezer out yet? Catra needs to get going soon," came Bows' voice. 

Getting up took one or three tries but she was beginning to feel the cold sweat she got as Glimmer's magical blood began to take effect so that was a positive. 

"Yeah, hey sorry about that Catra, I spilled a bunch of milk everywhere," Adora lied as she rounded the corner. 

"'S fine, I need to get going before I'm late, I wanted to say later," Catra said. 

"yeah sounds good. I'll text you later?" 

"Cool, later you two," Catra said, looking at Bow and Glimmer before heading out the door. 

With the door closed the cafe was silent once more. Adora sighed heavily. 

"How long was I out?" 

"Just a few minutes. Catra almost went back there," Bow said as he went to clean the counter. 

"That uhh.. would have been awkward. Thanks for covering guys." 

"No problem," Glimmer said, finishing wiping off one of the seating tables, "how are you doing?" 

"Peachy," Adora said dryly before wincing at her words. "Sorry. I'm doing better. It's been a minute since it hit me that fast."

Adora remembered that day in high school where she watched her fangs grow before her eyes while she watched in a small makeup mirror and holed up in the girls bathroom. 

"Hey it’s fine Adora, we got your back," Glimmer said, "it's past rush hour, if you want to head home early that's cool. I'll be home tonight and you can remedicate if you still feeling hungry." 

“Please don’t say hungry. It makes me feel awful," Adora sighed trying to keep the anger down. "Yeah, I think I'll take off."

"Sorry I didn't mean to say it like that. I'll be home as soon as I can tonight okay?" 

“Thanks. You know where I'll be," Adora hated feeling like this. She was stronger than anyone when Glimmer’s magic began to wear off. Yet she felt the weakest. No amount of self control could stop her if she truly wanted to eat. A beast. 

"Take care of yourself okay?" Bow said as Adora hung up her apron. 

"I always do," Adora lied easily. It wasn't worth bringing everything up with anyone. Nobody ever understood. 

In perfect fashion, Adora realized she had left her umbrella in her car this morning not expecting to need to use it today. 

_ Stupid.  _

She looked back and saw Glimmer and Bow already in another conversation not seemingly realizing Adora hadn't left yet. 

_ At least they won't see me dash to my car.  _

Umbrellas in the summer didn't help Adora's prospects in school but it was better than second degree sunburns after being outside for an hour. 

With another sigh trying not to remember past sprints to her car (the ones where kids had stolen her umbrella were the best), Adora opened the door and felt the sun attack her skin as she began the hike to her car.

…

_ Well that was weird AF.  _

Catra wasn’t sure what to make of whatever her conversation with Adora had been. 

Adora did say she was sick, and she didn't have the usual radiance that Catra was growing to like. Maybe she had a fever fucking with her brain or something. 

_ Or she's trying to avoid you now because you blew your shot with her.  _

Catra tried not to think too hard about how quickly Adora went to the backroom. 

Her cat instinct told her it was okay. She hadn't smelled anything out of the ordinary. In fact Adora had smelled amazing. Alluring even. 

Must have been a new perfume. She had always been weak for good perfumes. 

As she thought and waited for her drink to show up at the end of the line, the same brown skinned bro finished Catra's drink and strode over like he owned the place. He wore a smile plastered on his face. 

Catra didn't care for it all that much. 

“Hey, so you must be Catra. I'm Bow,” he said pointing to himself. 

"Yeah, nice to meet you. Is Adora okay back there?" 

"I think I heard something fall over, I'll be right back," said the short haired chick. 

Bow kept his smile on, even a little too much for Catra's liking.

"So what's Pinkie's name?" Catra said. It came out a little harsher than she would have liked. 

"oh right, that's Glimmer. She and Adora are step sisters. And don't let her catch you calling her that," Bow said with a chuckle. 

"Oh nice," followed by an awkward silence that made Catra want to jump out a window. Instead of jumping, Catra went on her phone to scroll and stim. 

"Is Adora like coming back or…?" Catra said once she remembered it was a work day and she was cutting it close. 

Just then, Glitter came back from the back. She was putting a band-aid on one of her fingers. Catra had always hated the smell of blood, Glitter must have cut herself helping Adora. 

_ I hope Adora is okay.  _

When did Catra suddenly get so invested? They went on one date and Catra was wondering if they would fall in love with each other. 

"So you're the Catra Adora is always talking about," Glimmer said with fire in her eyes. "She's our friend and we don’t want anyone to hurt her. You're not going to hurt her right?" she balled a fist on the counter-top. 

_ The fuck did that come from?  _

If Catra wasn’t such a stubborn person, it might have cracked her facade. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know? Nothing’s too low for me, you'll just have to wait and see,” Catra knew she wasn’t going to win any points for her comment but she felt the need to piss Glimmer off. Her inner animal demanded it on some unspoken principal. 

Bow stepped in and put a hand gently on Glimmers. 

“We’re Adora friends. So we get a little defensive,” he looked from Catra to Glimmer, “but Adora is a grown woman who knows how to handle herself. Right Glimmer?” 

This whole conversation was aging Catra by years.

“Fine I guess you're right. Whatever." Glimmer went off to clean off the tables around the cafe. 

"Hey Adora, are you done cleaning that freezer out yet? Catra needs to get going," Bow said to the backroom door. When he looked back he was giving Catra another smile. "Sorry about that. Glimmer is, well Glimmer. Don’t let it reflect on your friendship with Adora. I’m frankly very happy she has a new friend to talk to,” his genuine smile cracked the exterior shell Catra put up on herself as Glimmers outburst. 

“Uhh… thanks. And don’t worry, I don’t have any evil plans or anything. I'm excited to get to know her better,” Catra almost slapped her face having said something so mushy to a complete stranger. What the hell was wrong with her? 

"Hey sorry about that Catra…" came Adora's voice followed by Adora.

She looked like shit. What happened back there? Did she get in a fight with a bear? 

Adora smelled different now too. It smelled like worry with a side of illness.

"'S fine. You sure you can work? You look worse than when I came in."

"Oh yeah I'm doing alright. I'll head home if I uhh.. need to. Thanks for saying something." 

"Alright," Catra said before hesitating, did she want to ask for a hug? That might be a bit too much, she didn't want to give mixed signals by wanting to hug Adora so soon after they agreed to stay friends. "I'm gonna get going. Later Adora, later you two." Catra said, swinging around to head out the door. 

"Bye. I'll text you later?" 

"Okay," Catra said, giving a quick wave that she saw Adora return just before the door closed completely. 

It was difficult to keep the bad thoughts down. They writhed up like flames from hell. When she managed to push one back down, another took the opportunity to rise up. 

Was Adora going to stop talking to Catra? 

Adora really couldn't if Catra kept going to that coffee shop. 

Was Adora not invested at all anymore since Catra shot her down? Or Catra going to fade to nothing. 

She seemed to have really close friends in Bow and Glimmer already, she probably wouldn't miss Catra. 

Maybe Catra should pull back before Adora could do it herself. It wouldn't be the first time Catra had done it. 

Another sip that gave Catra brain freeze helped her come down a little. 

Why did this always happen? Was this just how Catra's life was going to go? 

Was it a good idea to abandon her own family five years ago? She hadn't exactly left on good terms. 

They deserved it obviously, but… 

Ugh this was opening another can of worms she didn't want brought up today. 

Catra's thoughts continued to spiral until she got to work where she had to put on her happy face and get through the day. The coffee did help, she only wished it didn't make her think of a certain blonde with pretty eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the chapter, even if it wasn't fluffy! Let me know what you think, I love to read your comments no matter how big or small they are. 
> 
> Stay safe everyone. Remember there is still a pandemic occurring. Please, speak up and do what you can, but stay healthy and safe. Keep others safe too, obviously we have to do it since the government and police wont.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god its finally done! This chapter fought me every single line, I don't know why but whew this is by far the hardest chapter in a fic I've ever written. 
> 
> Anyway, hi! Sorry it took me like a month to upload this. It just took me that long to edit it into something I want people to read.

Two weeks after the debacle in the café, Adora invited Catra and friends (if she wanted to bring them) to a bowling/arcade place for a big hang out night. 

Catra had told Adora of her charges (Scorpia and Entrapta) and Adora had told Catra of her own friend circle that was much larger than Catra originally thought. There was quite the posse besides Bow and Glimmer but Adora had hinted that she mostly tagged along with everyone and that she really only knew Bow and Glimmer.

Catra jumped at the chance to see Adora outside of the coffee shop. She also wanted to bring Scorpia and Entrapta since she wasn’t sure she could handle Bow and Glitter without backup for an extended period of time. 

Catra found it mind boggling how Adora could handle Bow and Glimmer. There was a connection that she wanted to learn more about. 

It had become something Catra kept tabs on how friends complimented each other. The familial bond she once had with her family was hard to find with anyone that wasn’t blood related. 

It pissed Catra off so much knowing how much her family held sway over her life even after she ran away. 

_ Their fucking brainwashing still works.  _

She was intrigued by the 'Best Friends Squad' (named by Bow of course) as they texted each other back and forth. So many texts were incoherent babble only the three could apparently decipher. 

After an extensive texting battle between the Best Friends Squad and Catras group, an evening they could all hang out was settled upon and the date was set. 

Entrapta spent the following days turning her room into a place of bowling learning, if such a place had ever existed before. Catra had to put her foot down after the third time a bowling ball came rolling down the hallway at high speed. Luckily she didn't break anything that would lose them their deposit. 

Scorpia for her part just smiled and gave Entrapta hugs while Catra spent much of her time trying to stop herself from pulling her hair out at the genius’ tendencies and how she still managed to find kinship in the chaos. 

The evening came and the Super Pal Trio car pooled to the bowling alley and somehow arrived ahead of schedule. 

There was no way in hell it was Catras doing, practically shoving her friends out the door so she wouldn’t be late and give a bad impression on Adora. 

Nope. Definitely not. 

Since they had arrived early, Catra was forced to wait. Dammit she hated waiting for stuff. The best thing she came up with to entertain herself was to bite and naw and stare at her nails like the cat she was. 

Almost right on time, a fancy car came into the parking lot and Catra couldn't help but side-eye the hell out of it.

_ Who in their right minds would drive such a nice car to a bowling alley? _

She was surprised to see Adora and her friends climbing out.

Wait what the fuck? Were they loaded or something? 

“Hey how's it going?” Adora said, once they had joined Catras crew.

“Hi, I'm good, what about you? Sup, Glitter and Archer, ” Catra said smoothly, trying to keep from showing her nerves.

“Aww cmon why does he get a cool name and I don’t? I'm not that sparkly! Right Bow?!” Glimmer said puffing up and glaring between Catra and Bow.

“No Glimmer, you are only the second sparkliest person I've ever met,” Bow said with a shit eating grin. “Hmm… Archer. I like it. You know I used to be pretty good with a bow and arrow.”

“ANYWAY,” Adora cut in, "hi, you two must be Scorpia and Entrapta. It's nice to meet you,” she said, holding out her hand. 

What she got was a crushing hug from Scorpia. Oops. Catra forgot to mention Scorpia was a hugger. 

"Hi! It is so wonderful to finally meet you Adora! Catra has told us so much!" 

"Ahem, Scorpia, you're crushing her," Catra deadpanned. 

"Oh right! Sorry!" Scorpia gently put Adora down and backed off the hug. 

_ Jeez my friends sometimes…  _

After the less than consensual hug, Adora got an awkward look from Entrapta before taking Adoras hand even more awkwardly and giving her the limpest hand shake Catra had ever seen. Oh god was it going to be one of those nights?

Adora seemed to take it in stride because she smiled and let it all happen without complaints that Catra was surprised and thankful about. 

"Hi," Adora said to Catra, "how are you?" she was looking right at Catra. The tone in her voice made Catra want to run off with Adora so they could whisper secrets to each other in a hidden corner somewhere. 

“Hey guys! We’re here!” came a voice not too far from the group forming. 

It came from a tall blonde not unlike Adora but way skinnier and wore a light flowing dress. Was she wearing a flower crown? 

Next to her was another woman and a man. She looked like she’d rather be anywhere but here, arms crossed in front of her with an almost scowl on her face. The guy looked like the polar opposite, jovial and walking with a stupid smile on his face. His mustache was pretty well maintained Catra had to admit. Wait who were these losers and why did they seem to know Adoras trio?

“Ummm…sorry Catra, but someone,” Adora turned to glare at Glimmer, “told some of our other friends we were doing this tonight. This is Mermista, Sea Hawk, and Perfuma. I hope it's okay if they tag along.”

The odds were suddenly stacked against Catra and her friends. She wasn’t sure she liked these uninvited barnacles sticking with the group while she was trying to get to know people she already barely knew. Interpersonal relationships were hard enough for a werecat without uninvited guests. 

Before she could say anything she would regret, Scorpia stepped forward. Thank god she was good at reading Catra. Or was she just that extroverted?

“Hi guys! Of course they can tag along! The more the merrier. Let’s have a great time!” Scorpia said. 

“Ahh yes! Let us set upon a wonderful adventure that will be told for ages to come!” the guy, Sea Hawk (what the hell kind of name was that?) shouted before opening his arms out in front of him and embracing Scorpia. At least both groups had a fully fledged extrovert to feed off each other. 

“Ugh Sea Hawk it's just bowling, calm down,” Mermista said, a permanent scowl and dead eyes on her face. 

Entrapta had stepped forward during all of this and extended a hand to Perfuma. It was hella awkward for half a second as neither of them moved before Perfuma took it and said hi. 

Oh god Entrapta had a crush. Entrapta never touched anyone, so for her to be the first to initiate something like a handshake was practically her proposing to this chick. Perfuma seemed to enjoy it though. They quickly fell into quiet conversation off the side of the party. Catra had to smile that Entrapta had found a like minded soul. 

Before anything could devolve any farther, Catra stepped in the center of the little (way too big) circle of idiots, no friends, to speak up, “alright that’s enough lollygagging lets get a move on while we’re still young,” before about facing and walking in through the door without looking back. It seemed to work, because as Catra walked up to the front desk, Adora had already joined her. 

“Sorry again, I hope this doesn’t put a damper on tonight. I uhh.. really wanted it to be just the six of us,” Adora said nervously. 

“S’ okay, as long as you can keep your friends from pummeling me too much I think I'll survive. I would have met them all eventually I feel like, given their hmm…exuberant, personalities,” Catra said, trying to act nonchalant but it was hard with the glow that seemed to emanate from Adora, “it looks like you're feeling better from that cold you got a few weeks ago. It looked like it hit you pretty hard that one day you went home sick.”

“Huh? Oh right yeah. That uhh.. happens sometimes, I have a weak immune system and coupled with anxiety can prove very effective in getting me sick a lot,” it sounded plausible but Catra noticed it sounded practiced. It rolled off Adoras tongue too quickly. Adora had probably told that story to a million people before telling Catra so it probably would sound a bit mechanical. Right? 

_ She's lying.  _

_ No dumbass, why would she lie about being sick?  _

“That’s good to hear. Well let's get this road on the show then, c’mon losers let's go!” Catra said yelling to the gaggle of people taking their sweet time coming into the building. 

It took way too long to get everyone situated, alleys purchased and teams divided. They took up three alleys all next to each other so they could share in the shenanigans. 

Catra let out a held breath when no one put up a fight for letting her and Adora be on the same team. Adora was quiet during the exchange but Catra didn't dwell on it. 

_ C'mon she's not trying to avoid you, she invited you dumbass.  _

Bow was elected to be the third piece to complete their group and the three of them settled down on the far right lane with the extroverts (Scorpia and Sea Hawk) and Mermista in the middle. Perfuma, Entrapta and Glimmer took up the left lane but it wasn't long before Glimmer and Bow gravitated together and more or less set up their own table off to the side so they could sit together and still be near their respective teams. 

"So, are they like a thing?" Catra asked as Adora meticulously input their names into the monitor to keep score. 

"That's a hard question to answer. They've been friends since forever. I uhh.. think it's kind of an unspoken thing that they're together. I've gotten the impression they're both aromantic so they don't do much of the relationship stuff in the traditional sense but that doesn't mean they're not together ya know?" 

"Mhm," Catra said as she tested bowling balls to find the perfect one (that fit her aesthetic the best). "Excuse, that doesn't look like my name," as she observed Adora typing Catras name onto the screen. 

"What? You don't like it?" 

Cszathera was the fucking name Adora had typed in. 

"No, it's awful and I hate it!" Catra feux yelled. 

"Oops my finger slipped. So sorry," Adora said with a grin as she hit enter to finalize Catras name. She must have felt like the smartest person on the freaking planet. 

"Oh so that's how it's gonna be eh?" Catra put her hands on her hips. 

"Whatever do you mean?" Adora put on big doe eyes that Catra had to admit worked really well with her blue eyes. No. Bad. Focus. This is totally a competition now. 

"Fine then I get to choose your name smartass."

"Pfft like I'd let you anywhere near my name." 

With that answer, Catra smooshed her hand into Adoras face to get her out of the way. Hands flew and it turned into a brawl to get to the console. 

Somehow they ended up on the floor, Catra on top with Adora flailing and laughing and snorting? Since when did Adora snort? 

Catra hated that she loved it so much. 

"So are you guys gonna wrestle all night or…" came Bows voice from in front of the console. 

He had plopped himself down in the empty seat while Catra was totally owning Adora at this very real fight. 

He even managed to enter Archer for his name and adorable for Adoras name before hitting enter one last time and starting the game. 

"I get to go first!" Catra said, smooshing Adoras face again with her hand as she got up. Adora giggled on the floor all the way until Catra had her bowling ball and lining up her shot. 

Her well timed and beautifully aimed shot rolled smoothly down the alley and straight into the gutter after hitting only one pin. 

"Whoo!" Adora shouted from behind Catra. 

"Ahh shud-up Princess" Catra said, stomping the ground back to her seat. 

Bow's turn went better, he got about half of the pins down. Catra didn't count, she was busy trying not to think about Adora sitting right next to her and how good she smelled today. Honestly when hadn't she smelled good? 

Catra bounced her leg to keep the boiling energy under her skin from letting out. 

The inherent energy of being a were-creature was always hard for Catra to suppress. It made having diagnosed depression a wonderful (total bitch) experience. 

Yay for manic depressive episodes. 

The energy under her skin got easier to handle as she finally began to calm down after the unexpected addition of people to the evening. Her heart rate that had been beating hard began to slow. Now it was the air Adora kept around her that Catra needed to contend with. 

Thankfully, Adora gave Catra a moment to breathe when she got up to take her turn. Then Catras anger spiked when Adora got all but one pin down. 

"Ha!" Adora yelled, spinning around and shooting finger guns at Catra. "Beat that!" 

"Oh I plan on it."

Their first game went to total shit very quickly. None of them had bowled in forever and it wasn’t like anyone had any kind of technique or anything. Bow came out the victor but only because Adora and Catra sucked even more than he did. 

It was the beginning of the second game when the cheap pizza and beer arrived. It was the best worst pizza Catra had ever had and the beer tasted like watered down tea but she found herself enjoying it all the same. She even managed to have a few conversations with people who were not her usual friend group or Adora which she was proud of herself for doing. 

Catra noticed how Glimmer was absolutely destroying Perfuma and Entrapta but neither seemed to care as they sat in their chairs yapping away. 

As the pizza and beer flowed, Adora seemed to come out of her shell a little more (she was slow to open up tonight as well). A few slices and cups later, she and Catra were throwing pins left and right, leaving Bow in the dust as far as points go. About the time the fourth beer was finished, they were in full on competitive mode. Each trying to one up the other and win the game. Adora had all the strength in the world with those amazing shoulders but no aim to save her life. Catra knew she couldn't beat Adora with raw strength so she focused on her aim in order to win. 

Two games later, Catra and Adora were thoroughly bored of bowling. So they grabbed another beer cup and pizza filled paper plate each and went off to the arcade side of the place. It didn’t take long to find a co-op fighting game that they could beat the shit out of each other at. 

With the alcohol flowing, Catra let more of herself out. She spent almost as much time playing the games as she did messing with Adora to throw her off. A few pokes to the ribs were all Catra needed to learn Adora had a ticklish spot that was easily exploited. 

“God Catra! Do you have to fight so dirty?” Adora squealed after the umpteenth poke in the ribs.

“I guess you should know I always play dirty. Nothings too low for me,” Catra purred, paying attention to the fight at hand. She was waiting for another moment to fluster Adora and get her to throw the game.

The thrill Catra got being a little shit to Adora was addicting. Even though Adora was putting on a pout, she was still smiling and laughing. 

One particularly sweet victory against Adora thanks to some dirty actions, finally made her stoop to Catras level and started messing with Catra in her own way. 

Unlucky for Adora, Catra had never been ticklish. 

"You think that's going to work on me? In your dreams princess," Catra said when pokes to the ribs and neck yielded nothing for Adora. 

"How are you not ticklish at all?!" Adora puffed. 

Catra concentrated on the game. She had the upper hand, nothing Adora was doing threw her off. She still had over half health while Adoras was draining quickly. 

She could taste the victory. 

Until her whole body jolted and she let out a squeak in reaction to a sudden tapping on her butt. 

"What the fuck?! How did you do that?!" Catra yelped as she reeled from another butt tap. 

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Adora feigned between pursed lips, failing to hide a smile. 

Catra caught Adora leaning a bit to the side before another tap and she realized Adora was kick nudging Catras ass with her foot. 

**Fatality!** The game yelled at Catra as her character's spine was ripped out and stomped on. 

It wasn't long after that their game was left to its own devices as they ran around the arcade basically playing tag like the five year olds they were. 

It was a well balanced and fair game (totally not fair). Before they knew it they were at a standstill. Standing on opposite sides of an arcade game, out of breath, waiting for the other to falter to press an advantage. 

Catra needed to win this. It was a matter of principle. She needed to get back some segment of her dignity after Adora had spelled her name so grossly for bowling and that awful cheating she had subjected Catra to. 

She was sweating and huffing from running around like a 12 year old but Adora was too and honestly when was the last time she had had this much fun? 

Adora had a light blush on her cheeks and her eyes were absolutely alive. The blue in them shimmered. As usual she still smelled amazing. Even sweating and running around a ratty arcade Catra found Adoras scent so attractive. 

_ Sometimes I love having such a sensitive nose.  _

Catra waited for her turn to strike. It had to be perfect or Adora would get her first. 

Catra eyed Adora up and down waiting for an opening and she knew Adora was doing the same. 

But there wasn't a chance in hell Catra was going to let Adora win this fight. 

“Umm hey guys are you ever going to come back or should we leave without you?” Glimmers voice came from the entrance to the arcade. 

They both shot up out of their fighting stances and stood arrow straight in a heartbeat. 

“Coming!” both yelled at the same time before cracking smiles. Catra gave one more light jab to Adora as they walked back to their bowling alley where their friends were waiting.

One last game has been paid for and everyone was on the screen this time. It was the grand championship or whatever. 

Unfortunately for Catra and Adora, their shenanigans in the arcade had given everyone else a lot more time to practice. It was clear after the third round, neither stood a chance so they sat out for most of the game and guarded what was left of the pizza. 

Entrapta came out victorious after a hard neck in neck race against Bow. They must have been wearing laser goggles to get as many strikes as they did. 

Everyone cheered and hollered to congratulate Entrapta who thoroughly had no clue what to do. 

Catra enjoyed watching two groups of people come together and it gave her what Scorpia would call 'warm fuzzies' knowing she got to be a part of it. 

_ Perhaps there's something of a family I can find here.  _

Learning to trust was hard. Catra had been let down before and that was  _ after _ all the years of familial brainwashing. 

'Don't talk to anyone we don't know. Who knows what they would do if they discovered us.' 

'Only the pack can look out for those in the pack.' 

'Do you want to be lonely for the rest of your life? We're here now. We always will be.'

Catra held onto those beliefs far too long. 

'Your second cousin left the family and he only made it two years by himself before we found him again in that awful state.'

The secrets became too much sometime in middle school and she finally told Scorpia and Entrapta.

'You can never tell anyone outside the family, they are outsiders and we want to be left to our own. The only people who will ever understand you is us.' 

She cried when they accepted her. It made the rest of middle school easier. It made their friendship stronger, and Catra didn't have to lie to her friends anymore. 

It was amazing. 

Until her parents found out. 

It wasn't until after she ran away that the size of the hole left from leaving her relatives became apparent. The gaping hole was difficult to fill, and she had spent many nights scared it might drive her back home. 

One shitty side effect of being a were-cat was the stupidly strong ties to family. The same blood. In hindsight, Catra should have probably seen it coming. She knew how the family would react.

The fear stopped her more than a few times before  _ the incident  _ finally pushed her over the edge. 

_ '"Attention everyone, I am Catras father. I'm not sure how many of you know my daughter. She has something she would like to say to the student body since she has already told a few of you our families secrets." _

_ Catra stared at her dad.  _

_ What is he doing? _

_ Oh God everyone is looking at me…' _

Catras body shivered against her will at the memory.

She took a deep breath and looked around her environment to ground herself back in reality. 

Entrapta and Perfuma were in the corner slightly behind the group but still mildly involved. 

Scorpia and Sea Hawk were talking wildly at each other with Mermista putting on a face that said she hated every second but it was easy to see she was having a good time. 

Adora laughed heartily and caught Catras attention. Someone evidently said something funny. 

Catra missed the snort. She resigned to find out how to hear it more often.

By the end of the evening, the conversations got quieter and more spread out. It was mutually decided by everyone to call it a night. Hugs were given all around as people parted to their respective cars. Catra stayed in the back, trying to avoid too many hugs. The only hug she really wanted was from Adora. To her delight, Adora came to Catra and enveloped her. 

“I had a good time tonight. Lets do it again sometime,” Adora said, still embraced in the hug. 

“Yeah, me too. I can keep kicking your ass at Mortal Kombat next time we come.”

“Pssh like you were ever winning,” Adora half grumbled as she broke the hug, “we both know if you didn’t cheat I would have destroyed you everytime.”

“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll have to find out next time,” Catra put on a shit eating grin. 

“Sounds like a date,” Adora smiled before a blush erupted on her cheeks, “uhh… not like that. O-obviously. Yeah. It'll just be us hanging out and being friends,” she trailed off as Catra did her best not to burst out laughing at Adora in dork mode. 

“Works for me Princess. Bye, Adora,” Catra let every bit of flirtatiousness out in her voice. Adoras blush deepened as she quickly turned and fast walked to the car. 

“Yeah, uhh…ill text you. Uh- night,” Adora muttered as she opened the door and got in in one fluid motion.

This crush was getting Catra bad. She even let her mind wander to the smallest hint of a possibility that maybe Adora liked Catra more than just ‘do a random first date after barely meeting each other’ kind of thing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked it and it was worth the wait! 
> 
> I'm hoping the next chapter wont be as hard for be to edit as this one. I will upload it as soon as I can! 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you can! i love reading them!
> 
> Stay safe and look out for each other.


	4. Chapter 4

**Adora:** Would you wanna come over for a sleep over this weekend or something?

**Catra:** Only if there’s video games and pizza and Glitz doesn’t invite the entire goddamn world. 

**Adora:** Done and done. And no, it’ll just be the two of us, Glimmer and her mom are out of town for the weekend. 

**Catra:** Sweet. When do you want to do it?

**Adora:** Saturday night? I get off work at 2 so maybe 5?

**Catra:** See you then. It’d better be better pizza than that crap at the bowling alley.

**Adora:** Oh please you ate like 5 slices.

**Catra:** Just because I ate that much doesn’t mean it was good. Pizza is still pizza. Especially when I needed something to drown out Scorpias voice.

**Adora:** I get now why you said she really fills a room. 

… 

Catra arrived at a lavish house that looked exactly like something Glitter would live in. It was austentatious and bright. Moons were depicted all over the yard for some ungodly reason.

She did her best to not let it annoy her. She fucking hated the moon. Even if it didn't affect her own were-animal, it seemed to be a universal thing for were-creatures. 

The interior was just as lavish as the outside. Large and oozing money.

Catra immediately felt out of place. She clutched her old-as-dirt bag harder hoping this all wasn’t a bad idea. 

“Whew, quite the place you got here. What does your mom do again?” 

“Yeah, I don’t really care for it personally but it’s home I guess. Angella—uhh, mom, works for the government. She’s an ambassador to different places around the world. She uh...travels a lot, even more so once Glimmer and I got old enough to watch ourselves. This way, I’ll um… show you my room.”

At the end of the long (and just as lavishly decorated) hallway, they came to a closed door with a dream-catcher taped to the front. 

Inside, Adoras room was different in every way from the rest of the house; it almost gave Catra whiplash. Posters and Christmas lights encrusted every square inch of the walls. 

_ Now this feels like home. _

Catra felt the tension leave her shoulders. 

She dumped her bag on the floor next to the door, still taking everything in. Bookshelves, so full of books they bowed cartoonishly. The bed haphazardly made like it had only been made only moments before. 

_ It’s what I would have done _ . 

There were knick knacks everywhere there weren't books. A fucking sweet looking broad sword hung on the wall with lights all around that made it glow. 

“Holy shit your room is sick. I love the sword. I’ll hazard a guess you’re a Christmas fan?” Catra chuckled as she spun her head to take everything in. 

“Thanks and uh yes,” Adora said with a smile. She wasn’t looking Catra in the eye. Was she nervous? “So where do you wanna order pizza from? I’ll let you choose since you're so high brow about it,” she finished with a grin. 

“I’m not highbrow, I just like good pizza instead of bowling alley schwag. And since I get to choose I know the perfect place,” Catra said, pulling her phone out to find the phone number, “I’ll order, what do you want?”

“Meat, cheese and grease please,” Adora said with an innocent smile that Catra loved to see. It was the same smile Adora had at the bowling alley.

“I like the way you think princess,” Catra grinned, “The carnivore special it is,” Catra said, putting the phone to her ear.

Once pizza was ordered, Adora showed Catra to the basement where a huge TV and every console known to man was just waiting to be played. 

Catra made sure her drool didn't get on anything. 

“Dude you have everything! Show me your collection. I swear if I find any crappy anime games our friendship is over,” Catra said, practically bouncing on her feet in excitement.

“Not a chance, who do you take me for?” Adora grinned going over to a closed cabinet and pulling it open. Catras jaw dropped at the most beautiful assortment of video games she’d ever laid eyes on. 

She and Adora must have been destined to meet. They were twins in video game taste. Lots of stupid humor and guns with a few genuinely good stories sprinkled in there. Catra almost swooned. 

It was easy to find a game they could play co op in so they loaded it up. Catra loved having someone to really play video games with. She had tried with Scorpia and Entrapta and while Entrapta at least was good at games, they had wildly different tastes. Scorpia liked anime games that gave Catra the creepy crawlies. 

“Oh fuck you, you did that on purpose!” Catra screamed as Adora blew up Catras tank for the billionth time.

“All's fair in love and war baby,” Adora fired back as she lined up her sights for a clean headshot.

“Fuck! I thought we were on the same team!” Catra yelled trying not to think too hard about the name Adora gave her. 

“And yet your butt is smoldering next to a blown up tank while I grab all the loot. Don’t worry I'll give you one or two of the cool guns I get,” Adora said, circling the area collecting anything not nailed down while Catra seethed and waited to respawn. 

**_Ding Dong._ **

“Whoo! Pizzas here! I’ll be right back!”Adora said leaping into the air and dropping the controller before running off. 

While Adora was gone, Catra couldn’t help but unpause the game and absolutely wipe Adoras character off the face of the planet out of spite before re-pausing the game to make it seem like nothing happened. 

“Jesus Catra, I thought we were ordering pizza not the whole dang restaurant,” Adora muttered as she walked in carrying no less than five boxes of assorted Italian American cuisine. 

“It’s a sleepover right? Wouldn’t be proper if we weren’t nearly comatose with dough within the first few hours. Haven’t you ever had a sleepover before?” Catra joked. 

Adora didn’t respond as she set the food down and took some paper plates out of the bag of silverware they got. Catra caught the face Adora wore. 

_Sore spot. Damn._ _Knucklehead._

“Hey sorry I didn’t mean anything by that. Lets eat. I'll show you a good time tonight. Every sleepover will be ruined after this one!” Fuck was that too flirtatious? 

It seemed to work though as it brought Adoras pretty smile back, “I'm gonna hold you to that, I'll have you know Glimmer throws some rad parties. I just haven’t had too many sleepovers when she's not around.”

“Pff, you won't even remember her name once I'm done with you.” 

Okay now that was definitely a flirt. Oops.

Catras statement brought a rosey blush to Adoras cheeks and she nearly dropped the box she was holding. She somehow recovered before ripping open the box and stuffed an entire cheesy roll in her mouth. She was so shy it made Catras heart flutter. 

_ Sorry not sorry now _ . 

Flustering Adora gave Catra life. 

Within an hour, and two eating contests later, Catra and Adora slogged their way back to Adoras room. Catra carried the remnants of their feast to the kitchen and left it there before she could go against her better judgement and take another slice. 

In Adoras room, Adora turned off the main lights, and left the Christmas lights on as well as turning on a lamp that had one of those lightbulbs that simulate fire. Warm orange light danced around the room while they lazed and enjoyed each other's company without saying anything. Nothing needed to be said. 

Catra took to Adoras bed and curled up with a pillow to scroll on her phone while Adora dicked around on her own phone after sitting in her computer chair and turning on some chill music. 

_ Fuck this is nice _ .

Catra enjoyed the ambiance as well as the scent of Adora that permeated the room. Catra did her best to be lowkey about nuzzling her face into the pillow she had taken up. 

The small smile Adora had the entire time was so cute too. Catra hazarded to think Adora was enjoying this as much as Catra was. This was only the third time they’d spent any amount of time together but it felt like they had known each other for years. Totally comfortable with each other's presence. 

After a while, Catra caught up on all of her social media apps and decided to continue her snooping looks around Adoras room from the bed. 

Among the many posters of different TV shows and hot celebrities ( Confirming Adoras lesbianism. She had good taste) Catra noticed the personal photos of her friends and what looked like old vacations and travel spots. 

One picture didn’t line up with the others however. It was of two adults and one child family portrait style. The kid looked to be less than five years old, blonde hair, tall for her age and skinny. She was the spitting image of the older woman. The man had the same build as Adora had now, skinny but muscled and toned. 

“Hey tell me about that picture,” Catra asked. 

Adora looked up and seemed to know exactly which photo Catra was looking at even with Catra ten feet from the picture. 

“That’s of my biological parents and myself. They died when I was young. I hardly remember them but I like to keep a picture to remember where I come from,” Adora said flatly. Rehearsed even.

That’s why Adora struggled to call Angela mom.

“I should have guessed they were your parents. You mom was beautiful. It looks like you got your dad's build,” Catra said trying to end the conversation and steer into something, anything, other than family trauma. 

“Heh, yeah everyone says that. Thanks,” Adora said, still looking at the photo. 

Catra needed to change the subject and fast, she’d be damned if she ruined the night with that crappy conversation. Luckily an idea popped into her head fairly quickly. 

“Hey, lets watch a movie. No sleepover is really a sleepover until you watch movies way past your bedtime. Can you throw something up on your computer screen?”

The fog around Adoras head seemed to clear as she had to actually think about something instead of dwelling on whatever was stuck in her mind. 

“Oh. Yeah that sounds nice. What are you in the mood for?” Adora said, swiveling her chair to open up a new tab on her browser.

“Something easy. Ooh how about an old Disney movie?”

“I can rave to that,” Adora said, settling in and beginning to search for totally legal pirate websites. 

“Sweet. While you do that, I think I'm gonna go get changed into my pj’s. I’m sick of wearing pants,” Catra said, rolling herself off the bed and standing up like she just did some fantastic gymnastics stunt. 

“Mkay,” Adora said, chin in hand, looking for websites to watch the movie on, “bathroom is the second door on the right. And don’t mess with Glimmers hair products, she will find out and she will destroy you. I have the scars to prove it."

“Yeah yeah don’t touch Glitters stuff. Got it,” Catra laid the sarcasm on thickly. It made Adora turn her head around to look in Catras direction. 

“It’s your funeral,” Adora thought for a second, “but the best place to hide stuff is either in the fridge or in the shed in the backyard,” there was that smile again that Catra was falling for. She smirked and tapped the side of her nose before grabbing her bag before leaving the room. 

With all of the most expensive and glittery looking shampoos and conditioners safely hidden in the fridge, Catra grabbed another slice of pizza for herself and Adora before going back through the house to Adoras room. 

A movie had been chosen and paused on the monitor. Catra spied the title screen for Tangled. She wouldn’t complain, she already had one beautiful blonde girl in her life, why not add another for two hours?

Catra plopped down on the bed without saying anything and handed the extra plate to Adora who looked at it confusingly but took it without saying a word. 

“I was a bit hungry again and I wasn’t sure if you were so I brought you another slice just in case,” Catra muttered to the pizza in her mouth, not looking at Adora, before adding, “I don’t want you trying to mooch off me or something,” she needed to save some of her dignity. It wouldn’t do well for her reputation if people learned she was actually a giant sap. 

“Thank you,” Adora took a bite and smiled as she savored it, or was that smile directed at Catra? No, it was the pizza for sure, “That’s really nice of you. Not many people do stuff like that for me so thanks.”

Damn, Adoras hair was radiating light again. Her deep blue eyes boring into Catras but in a good way. She felt a few of her hard outer layers crumble.

“Yeah, no problem. I uhh… let's watch this movie already,” too much sap too quickly. Catra was trying to be friends, not girlfriends. 

Right?

“I hope you like Tangled because it's my favorite and you don’t have a say in the matter,” Adora grinned as she clicked the wireless mouse on her thigh to start the movie. Catra replied with a snicker and munched on her pizza, wishing the butterflies in her stomach to be crushed by more pepperoni. 

By the time Flynn was telling Rapunzel his real name, Adora was fast asleep on Catras shoulder, breathing peacefully. 

Catra was still wide awake of course. Probably wouldn’t sleep much tonight. She never did, trying to sleep in new places. Too much internalized paranoia from her parents or something. 

Once Catra was sure Adora was asleep, she allowed herself to stare at Adora fully. She steeled herself and tucked the locks of hair falling into Adoras face back behind her ear. 

Adora hadn't even changed out of her day clothes. It would drive Catra bananas if she tried to sleep in jeans. 

With this vantage point, Catra was able to take in Adora without fear of repercussions. 

Her skin was pale, even a tinge of blue. Yet her build didn't match that at all. Catra could see the defined lines of muscle on Adoras arms. 

_ How have I not noticed how buff she is? _

Actually, this was the first time Catra had seen Adora in anything but a long sleeve shirt. Her aesthetic revolved around hoodies, baggy long sleeves and jeans. 

_ This must be the only t-shirt she owns. Dork.  _

Regardless, Catra enjoyed being able to see more of Adoras skin. She wondered if she could tease Adora into wearing more t-shirts. What about muscle shirts too? Oh the possibilities were endless. 

But it wasn't good to sleep in day clothes so Catra had to do the unthinkable and wake sleeping beauty up. 

"Adora,” Catra cooed. “Hey, Adora."

"Hmm… Wha?" Adora said drowsily before her eyes shot open and she bolted off of Catras torso. "holy crap I am so sorry," she said brushing her hand through her hair quickly.

"Hey, it's cool, I only woke you up to see if you wanted to change into your pajamas." 

"Oh. Right. Okay yeah," Adora said looking down at herself before sliding off the bed. 

She silently grabbed some clothes and made her way out of the room without another noise. 

That was… She really reacted a lot just now. 

Did Catra do something wrong?

She tried to keep cool and waited until Adora returned to gauge how she was doing. 

Time stretched out forever like the bitch it was. Even with the distraction of the movie Catra couldn't help but worry and overthink everything. 

Finally after an age, Adora slid back into the room. She didn't say anything. 

"Hey you okay?" Catra said.

"Hmm? Yeah, just. Mad at myself. For that," Adora said, throwing her clothes into the closet and looking everywhere but Catra. 

"Hey I said it's fine. Really. You can't control when you fall asleep."

"I know. I just really don't want you to think I was trying to uh… take advantage of you or anything." 

Was that what this was all about? 

"I wouldn't be here if I thought that's what you were trying to do. And I certainly wouldn't have woken you up so gently. I promise, everythings cool."

Catra could see the tension leave Adora as the words soaked in. 

"Okay. Tell me if I ever do step out of line. Please."

"I promise princess. Now are you going to stand there all night or are you going to watch this movie with me?"

Adora looked at the screen and back to Catra. A small smile crossed her lips before she made her way over to the bed and crawled back in.

Once Adora was settled, Catra scooted closer to show Adora that it was okay. 

They sat back and enjoyed the movie. They were close enough that Catras knee would brush against Adoras occasionally. It was nice. This was different from what Catra normally knew, being touched too much or absolutely not at all. 

Catra let Adora slowly rest her head closer to Catra and soon Catra was lulled back into the trance that existed before. 

After not feeling movement for a while, Catra looked down and saw Adora, her eyes closed and breathing deeply again. She had rested herself on Catra’s shoulder. She looked comfy so Catra didn't see any reason to wake her again. 

Adora sighed in her sleep and nuzzled farther into Catras shoulder. 

_ Fuck that was cute.  _

Catra was a goner, she had no hope of fending off Adora for long. She wanted more with Adora. To be something more.

A tiny voice crackled that Adora wasn't someone the family would accept. 

Adora wasn't a were-cat. 

_ They can burn in hell if they don't like someone I lo- care about.  _

Adora wasn’t a were-creature, just a regular person, and Catra couldn’t care less.

Her eyes became heavy as she took Adora in. The movie played in the background and the Christmas lights were literally twinkling.

Catras last thoughts as sleep took her was how to know the right moment to tell Adora she wanted to be more than friends. 

\---

Faint light came from outside Adoras eyes as consciousness came to her. She was so cozy and warm. The blankets around her were just the right weight and softness. Adora smiled, willing herself to fall back asleep before her brain registered the blanket moved slightly on her waist. 

_ That’s odd _ .

Adora stole a peek trying not to let too much light into her eyeballs and wake her up more. What she saw was a blurry image of someone sleeping next to her. 

Right, Catra had spent the night. And Adora doesn’t remember them falling asleep. Or rather Catra falling asleep. 

Crap, Adora must have fallen asleep during the movie. Again. She hoped she hadn’t started snoring or got super cuddly with Catra after the first incident. 

Even though Catra had said it was fine, it still bothered Adora. She wasn't used to being close to people that weren't Glimmer or Bow and because of that, she had a tendency to overreact when something she didn't understand would happen. 

Of course the Agents would tell her it would be one small mistake that could get Catra killed. They wouldn't care that it had been so long since Adora’s last major incident. Once a monster, always a monster. 

Yet here Catra was sleeping next to Adora and she realized the ‘blanket’ on her was mostly Catra nuzzled up next to Adora. They were practically spooning. 

Adora knew she wanted this. She had fantasised about it happening someday with someone but didn’t put too much stock into it because of her sickness. 

Waking up next to someone she cared about. Someone who seemed to understand Adora and didn’t judge her for her illness. 

Well Catra didn’t know, but Adora kind of liked it that way. She knew anything Catra did had no bias in knowing Adora was a vampire. 

She knew she had to tell Catra eventually if they continued being friends. It was dangerous for a human to be friends with a vampire even if Adora hadn’t had a serious lapse in control in nearly ten years. And it was general common courtesy. 

Catra would then have to decide what to do with that information. Past experience told Adora if the other person didn’t already know of supernatural beings, they would peace out real quick. Either they thought Adora was crazy or… well no, everyone thought she was crazy once they saw she wasn't trying to joke around. 

She still missed Rebecca and Chloe. 

But again, Adora hadnt had a dangerous lapse in her meds since before she graduated high school. So maybe it would be okay to put it off a little longer and risk an even bigger falling out if Catra realized Adora had been hiding something for so long. 

She focused on Catra again and how comfy she looked sleeping next to Adora. The morning light set her hair ablaze and her lithe frame felt wonderful against Adoras body. It was nice. This was nice. 

Adora wanted more but she didn't want to bring up anything too mushy for fear of losing Catra. 

How could she be so stupid last night? Falling asleep on Catra like that. Adora never did anything like that with anyone else. She always slept by herself if (very big if) friends were over. 

Angella insisted on it because the Agents said vampires have been known to sleep walk if they get hungry. 

She made it through last night pretty well. Not even a slight urge which was awesome. 

Admittedly she had taken her medicine less than 48 hours before glimmer and Angel- mom ( _gotta be better than that_ ) left for their trip south so it wasn't terribly surprising. 

As Adora stewed and twisted herself into knots, Catra rolled off Adora and curled up around a pillow. 

She was so cute. 

Adora wanted to be a good friend for Catra. Maybe then she could stay in Catra’s life. 

And now she was free of the sleeping gremlin, the beginnings of an idea formed in Adora’s head. 

Having a goal always helped. It gave Adora something to work towards. Helped pull herself out of the ether. 

Stealthily getting out of bed, Adora crept out of her room, leaving the door open so Catra knew where to go when she woke up. 

In the spotless kitchen (Angella always deep cleaned everything before going out of town), Adora surveyed the land before opening cabinets and digging through the fridge to bring out all of the ingredients she needed to make a classic american breakfast. 

About two minutes after Adora started the bacon, a sleepy Catra wandered in looking like she'd been hit by a truck. 

Her hair was three times larger than normal was and her eyes were half lidded. She was still wrapped in a blanket like a burrito. 

She was the cutest zombie Adora had ever seen. 

"Wow look what the cat dragged in," Adora snarked as she flipped a pancake. 

The blanket bulged in what Adora assumed was Catra flipping her off as she wandered to the coffee machine. 

"I will forgive your insult if there is coffee." 

"It's on the list. What's a name I can put on the order?" Adora smiled as an ugly frown crossed Catras face. 

"Watch it asshole, I have claws." 

"Asshole. Got it. It'll be ready at the other end," Adora pointed to a spot on the dining table with an empty plate and silverware. 

Catra grumbled but complied and plopped down in the chair. 

Lucky for her, Adora was skilled in the art of coffee making and a hot mug of coffee was placed in front of Catra before she fell asleep again. 

Adora enjoyed every second of it. Catra was just so adorable. 

Half way into her coffee, Catra finally said, "this ain't bad. What do you do, work at a coffee shop or something?" 

"I've been known to brew coffee from time to time," Adora quipped back. 

"That smells good, what are you cooking?" 

"Bacon, pancakes and eggs." 

"Sounds tasty. You sure know how to treat a lady." 

What was Adora supposed to say to that? Was it a flirt? A friendly jab? Adora never did well when people talked to her like this. 

“Oh, uh thanks,” Adora said, not knowing which route to take. 

Adora quickly finished cooking the last pancakes and set everything down on the table to eat. 

“Dig in, I hope you like it,” Adora said shyly as she surveyed her work. She was happy with her work this morning.

The bacon turned out well and the eggs weren’t chewy or too greasy. By the noises, or lack thereof, Catra seemed pleased as she dug in and didn't say another word as she was busy chomping down on pancakes. 

“Damn girl this is amazing. Where did you learn to cook this good?” Catra finally said after she stopped to take a few sips of coffee. 

“My mom taught me. I kind of just kept at it after she uhh passed,” Adora said as smoothly as she could. She wasn't in the mood to think about her parents right now. 

Her side itched annoyingly like it knew Adora was thinking of her parents. 

“How long have you lived with Scorpia and Entrapta again? I remember you said something like three years or so,” Adora said. 

“Lets see. 2016. So four years. Yeah that sounds right,” Catra said pausing in the middle to take a bite of bacon. 

“Did you find them just to be roommates?”

“Oh no, the three of us have been friends since middle school. They've helped me a lot the last few years after I moved away from home.”

“You said from the Midwest right?”

“Yeah, North Dakota.”

“I‘ve always wanted to visit that part of the country. What's it like up there?”

“Trees. Lots of trees,” Catra deadpanned. 

“Sounds nice.”

“Ehh if you're into that sort of thing. We got out because we wanted to live in a more populated area. All three of us are either lesbian or bisexual and the prospects of being able to live freely were an easy choice.”

“Do you ever get homesick?”

“No. I'll never go back, there's nothing for me there.”

Adora jolted at the thought of never wanting to see her family again. She missed her parents ever single day and ached for years over their deaths. 

“You don't miss your family at all?”

“Nope,” Catra popped. “They're the reason I'll never go back. They're awful people.”

“Oh. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for prying.”

“It's fine. Well its not, but you know. I've come to terms that I'm better off without them as hard as it was initially.”

Adora stared at Catra. She had put down her fork, pancake still on the tines. She was slowly rubbing the handle on her coffee mug and watched the coffee within it. 

Adora wanted to comfort Catra somehow. 

_ To hell with it. _

She reached out her hand and placed it on Catras free hand.

Catra looked up and locked eyes with Adora.

“I'm uh...glad you moved here. I wouldn't have met you otherwise.”

After a second, Catra smiled and Adora fell even farther for Catra. 

_ You are a menace to society. Dangerous to everyone around you. Without your foster mother, where do you think you would be? Locked up or dead.  _

The voice of Adoras assigned government agent, whoever he was, was angry for her reaching out. 

Why was it so bad for her to try to be human? Being human meant meeting people, growing close to them. All the government workers wanted her to do was isolate to dissuade any possible vampiric urges. 

Of course that's not how it worked. But they didn't care ‘how it worked’. She needed to stay away from people to keep them safe. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Adora only felt those urges when her medicine was wearing out. While she was medicated, there was no difference between her and a normal person. The doctors had proved it. 

For this moment Adora was nothing but a helpless lesbian in the face of another beautiful person she was falling in love for. 

“I guess I did get something good out of them,” Catra said, a smile still on her face. 

The clinking of keys broke the trance between Adora and Catra before the sound of the front door opening.

“Adora! We’re home!” came Glimmer's voice from the living room. 

“Mm something smells good,” came Angella’s voice as she entered the kitchen.

“Oh hey Ang- mom. You guys are home so early!” Adora said, snatching her hand off of Catras. 

“I've said it a million times, it's fine if you call me Angella,” as she put down her purse. “Oh my! You have a friend over!” 

“Sorry, usually you guys are home later so I didn't say anything.” _c_ _ mon Adora, keep it together, don't shut down now.  _ “umm… this is Catra. Catra, this is my.. Mom, Angella. I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about Catra before right, mom?”

“Oh yes! The girl from the cafe!” Angella said, clapping her hands together excitedly. 

“Man am I glad to be home, there was NOTHING to eat at the airport since we got in so early. I’m-” glimmer was cut off as she entered the kitchen behind Angella. “woah hey what are you doing here?”

“Hey Sparkles.” Catra said with a small smirk on her face. 

“How many times do I have to tell you my name isn't sparkles. And you didn't answer my question. "

"We had a sleepover," Adora said, looking between Angella and Glimmer. "Sorry again I didn't tell either of you." 

"Nonsense sweetie, you're old enough to have friends over," Angella said. Adora released the breath she didn't know she was holding. 

Why was she getting so worked up over this? 

_ Because people have told you for years not to make friends for fear of their safety.  _

"I suppose it's okay as long as there's enough bacon for me," Glimmer said, looking around the kitchen. 

_ Darn it, I didn't think about that. Stupid.  _

"Sorry Glim, I didn't make too much extra. Here you can have mine, I hadn't eaten too much of it anyway," Adora said, beginning to push her plate towards Glimmer. 

"Here, take mine, I think my ride just got here," Catra spoke up, pushing her plate (half eaten, bacon barely touched) towards Glimmer and put Adora’s plate back in front of her. 

Catra stood up, crumpling the blanket she had looked so cute in, into a ball to carry it back upstairs before leaving the room. 

Adoras brain stayed a jumbled mess, trying to catch up to everything going on but failing. 

_ I need to make sure Catra is okay.  _

Adora stood up and left the kitchen, "it's good to see you home, I'll uhh be back in a minute." 

Adora caught up to Catra in Adoras room as she was throwing her shoes on. 

"Hey, you okay?" Adora tentatively asked. 

"Peachy." Catra said quickly.

"Doesn't sound like it. Talk to me." 

"It's nothing, just my own stupid thoughts. I needed to get out before I said something stupid."

"They wouldn't have cared if that's what you mean. Believe me when I say they'll listen if you apologize for saying something wrong." 

Catra didn't say anything, just continued to put on her shoes. How long had she been tying that knot? 

"I just don't do well with meeting people." 

"You got along so well the other night at bowling though." 

"I had Scorpia and Entrapta to back me up. I'm not worth much without them."

"Thats bullshit! " Adora exclaimed and Catra finally looked up to meet Adoras eyes. "You're awesome and amazing and I'm lucky you said yes to me at the coffee shop. You don't know what that meant to me." 

Where did all these emotions come from? Adora wasn't one to get so emotional very often. 

"You really mean that?" Catra said slowly. 

"Yes I do."

Finally the ghost of a smile appeared on Catra’s face. 

"Thanks." 

Adora nodded. Then she remembered why Catra had left in the first place. "So do you really have someone waiting for you outside?" 

Catra smiled more before shaking her head, "you're such an idiot."

"Yeah, I know," Adora said, returning the smile.

"I guess I should try going back and introducing myself again." 

"Only if you want to, I can explain everything to them later if you don't want to go back down."

"As long as you're there I think I can do it." 

"Deal." 

Catra did amazing, and luckily Angella and Glimmer didn't pry too much. They never meant to, but they would ask too many questions sometimes. 

Before long, Catras ride had actually shown up and she climbed in after she and Adora shared a nice hug. Adora dared let it linger a little longer than a normal hug ought to be but Catra didn't pull back so Adora enjoyed it. 

“She seems very nice, I like her,” Angella said once Adora had settled herself in the kitchen. 

“Yeah, she is,” Adora smiled.

“I hope you two are being safe,” Angella said like it was nothing. Adora sputtered not even remotely thinking about  _ that. _

“We aren't together. We’re just friends!”

“Uh-huh, that hug was certainly more than friendly,” Glimmer said with a smirk.

“Glimmer, be nice,” Angella scolded. Glimmer puffed up and crossed her arms. “Well whatever you two are to each other, I hope  _ you _ are being safe around her.”

“Yes mom, I know how to keep myself in check.”

“Good, I just don't want another call from Agent Smith is all.”

“I haven't had an accident in years!”

“I know dear, I just want you to take care of yourself and everyone around you.”

How could she not? She was never away from Angella or Glimmer for more than a few days. Adora was in her twenties and she still had to have this lecture every time she mentioned a new name or did something outside the norm.

She had to live at home so she was close to her  _ medicine _ . 

“How are you feeling? No symptoms right?” Angella continued. 

“No mom, what happened last month was a freak accident. I feel fine.”

These conversations were a reminder Angella wasn't Adoras mom. Glimmer never had to have conversations about how she acted around people or whether she is an hour away from biting peoples necks. Adora knew she shouldn't think of Glimmer and Angella like that, but it wore Adora down over time. 

“Okay, I happened to notice you weren't eating your breakfast.”

“I'm not super hungry, I ate a whole bunch before you guys got home,” Adora lied. “I think I'm gonna go to my room.”

Without another word, Adora left the kitchen. She didn't feel angry when these conversations came up anymore. Just numb. She hated the constant reminders that she was different, even from Angella and Glimmer, and the rest of society even if they meant well. 

Angella and Glimmer got to live easy lives, being angels and just being good. Adora had to keep her head down. Always. And anytime she came up for air, someone somewhere was right there asking if she had taken her medicine or if she felt okay. It got old. It had been old for so long. 

Maybe that's why she had been enjoying Catras company so much. She didn't know what Adora really was. She didn't ask questions Adora hated answering. 

Did Adora really have to tell Catra she was a vampire? Adora hadn't had an incident in so long and she had too many other people making sure she kept on top of herself, maybe she could indulge in being around someone who didn't know the big dirty secret Adora had to keep every moment of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you thought!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! Sorry for the wait yall, life has been interesting to say the least. I left my job (because they sucked, oh and the owner was transphobic (my husband and i are trans) to the point he wanted to fire me (but couldnt because i waited until after a supreme court ruling made that illegal)) and its been weird but also so liberating to not have a 40 hr/week thing now and making money in my own time. I hope i can do more writing now along with everything else. its certainly a wonderful outlet for me. 
> 
> Here's the chapter. Long awaited fluff. I hope you all enjoy it!

**Adora:** So, hey, Perfuma is offering all of us to spend a weekend up at her family's cabin. She already invited Entrapta and I want to invite you and Scorpia since I doubt Entrapta would remember to tell you guys lol

**Catra:** Thanks for the invite. Which weekend were you planning?

**Adora:** End of August, about three weekends from now. Just a Friday night to Sunday afternoon thing. The weather this time of year is divine up there. The aspens should already be getting their fall color.

**Catra:** Sounds like fun. We’re in. I’ve been itching for some nice scenery. 

**Adora:** Oh how flattering Catra.

**Catra:** Psh like I'm going because I like you. 

**Adora:** I’m devastated.

The timing wasn’t ideal but Catra would be damned if she missed this opportunity to have a mini vacation. And one with Adora at that. 

Scorpia didn’t waste any time saying yes to a vacation with friends. When Scorpia brought up the timing of the trip, Catra asuaded her fears as well as calming her own anxieties.

“As long as I have this,” Catra held up the pendant she always kept triple looped around her neck, “I won’t have anything to worry about. We’ll be home way before any real problems arise.”

“Okay Wildcat, keep us in the loop! You know we’re here for you right?” Scorpia explained as she scooped Catra up in a hug. Catra futilly tried fighting, but as always, Scorpia never let her budge so she begrudgingly put her arms around Scorpia to reciprocate the hug.

“Thanks. And yes, you only tell me everyday,” Catra smiled. “but if you don’t let me down in the next two seconds I’m going to have to tell Adora you’re not coming.”

“You always say stuff like that and yet here we are,” Scorpia chuckled, gently setting Catra down.

“Yeah whatever,” Catra said as she punched Scorpia in the arm.

\---

The Big Day came quickly enough, the Super Pal Trio loaded their backpacks and suitcases into Scorpia’s car and set off on the two hour journey into the mountains. 

Entrapta manned navigation, with Scorpia piloting the car expertly while Catra failed to not backseat drive.

A twisty mountain highway and three dirt roads later the cabin came into view and the three women oohed and awed as they parked. The cabin was beautiful. It had an old look but clearly well taken care of over the years. A covered porch ran the perimeter, dotted with chairs and tables for lounging. The beginning of fall was clear in the trees (did Adora call them aspens?) as they swayed in the afternoon sun. 

Pulling in front, two more cars lined the front of the house, the trunks open and full of luggage and bags of groceries. Scorpia shut the car off as Catra spied Adora in a hoodie (it was hilariously oversized but astoundingly comfy looking) walking out the front door. She beamed as Catra and the crew got out.

“What’s up loser?” Catra drawled as she walked up to Adora with her suitcase.

“Waiting for those two," she pointed at Scorpia and Entrapta. "to bring me my favorite maroon. And pack mulling everything inside. Can I hug you? How was the drive?” Adora said, opening her arms up.

Catra replied by walking into the hug. Her suspicions of how comfy Adoras hoodie was were correct. 

She tried not to start purring.  _ I’m literally a fucking cat 24/7. Fuck. _

“It was pretty easy,” Catra said as the hug broke. “roads were clear. It’s been a long time since I’ve been around so many trees. They are beautiful this time of year.”

“Yeah, me too. Are the trees much different from um where you grew up?” Adora grabbed some bags from the car closest to her. "everyone's inside." 

Walking up the quietly creaking steps, the chaos inside wasn't much hidden behind the giant windows of the cabin. Too many people ran from room to room doing who knows what. Catra felt her neck prick up and her heart start pumping. She wasn't used to this many people this close to her next transmogrification that weren’t Entrapta or Scorpia.

“Hey, you guys are here!” Catra heard as they entered the threshold to the living room. Without saying anything Bow ran up and hugged Catra before moving to Scorpia and Entrapta. 

_ Rude much? Ugh. fuck me. Not a great way to start everything off.  _ She bit back a nasty remark but did what was socially required of her. 

Adora coughed awkwardly, “um Bow, what did I say about Catra?” she paused. “let's get everyone together now that everyone's here?" She turned to Catra. "we wanted to wait until you got here to make rooming arrangements as democratic as possible.”

“How thoughtful,” Catra grumbled as sweetly as she could, still recovering from the unexpected hug.

“We were kind of thinking the usual friends would go together," Bow said. "I think Entrapta and Perfuma already called dibs on each other,” he continued as he started calling everyone to gather around for final rooming decisions. “Glimmer and I will stay together as always,” Bow smiled at Glimmer as she squealed in excitement. The glitter practically shot from her hands. 

Getting roommates together was easy enough. Everyone was comfortable with who they ended up with. Scorpia ended up rooming with Entrapta and Perfuma. Catra and Adora were put together easily and all Catra needed to do was play the tiny bladder card and got the only room with a bathroom. 

Mermista and Sea Hawk were together of course, and coming up in the rear, Frosta was given the lone cot at the top of the stairs because she wanted to sleep by herself. 

The prospect of beginning this weekend long sleepover with adora made Catra forget some of the restless energy she had. 

Once rooms had been decided, luggage was distributed accordingly and Adora and Scorpia were made busy to move everyone's luggage into everyones respective rooms. 

_ How does Adora not get blistering hot in that hoodie? _

Catra had been inside for two minutes and she was already feeling the heat, and she was lowkey sad she wouldn't get to see those muscles of Adoras go to work. Alas poor soul. 

With everyone preoccupied, Catra was able to sneak her smaller second suitcase into the bathroom where she unloaded as much of her chemistry set as she could without raising suspicion. Most of her ingredients were in shampoo bottles and she tried to put them in places no one would want to look in for shampoo. The last thing Catra needed was for someone to squeeze rendered pig fat out of a random bottle they found. 

It was all unfortunately shit Catra had to keep on her this weekend. Her next transmogrification was coming the following Monday and the three days before and after were always hella rough. PMS on steroids if Catra didn't make her weird tonics. 

At least they didn't stink up the joint. Catra had read of other people with different predicaments not being so lucky as to be able to brew something up at a moments notice and not make an entire house smell like ass. 

Catra was apprehensive and excited at the same time for this weekend. She tried not to let the anxiety of being this close to the Lunar Big Day get to her but there wasn't a chance she would pass up this opportunity to spend so much time with Adora. 

Oh right, and her friends. Whatever. Mostly Adora.

Before anyone began wondering where Catra had disappeared to, she made her way back to the living room after hiding her shit. 

Soon everyone gathered in the living room and waited for someone else to stand up and tell them all what to do next. Catra spent the time next to Adora while they both scrolled on their phones, one occasionally showing the other funny memes or cat videos. To Catras absolute delight, this cabin came with WIFI and it wasn't half bad considering like ten people in their twenties were sucking up bandwidth. 

Before everyone could be lost completely to their screens or couch of choice, Glimmer stood up and announced herself to everyone to pay attention. Catra feigned annoyance if only to uphold her rough persona, she was interested in what had been planned for the weekend. 

“Alright gang, I think that’s enough lazy time. Let’s get this vacation started! I vote we go into town and go shopping!“

Murmurs came across the room as people struck up their own conversations.

“Here here! “ Scorpia shouted after a moment.

Sea Hawk made for standing up to begin what Catra could only assume would be a Lengthy And Exuberant speech about adventure but only made it about half way up before Mermista poked the back of his knee and he toppled like a sack of potatoes into Mermistas lap. 

”Let’s do it!” Bow followed up after Scorpia.

Catra checked the time on her phone. Some mental math told her it was time to take some meds before leaving. She regrettably had to do some actual chemistry to make the meds (potion?) work.

“If we’re doing this I’ll need a bit. Car ride was long. I’ll be back,” Catra shot Scorpia and Entrapta the proper look which they returned.

Once in the bathroom, Catra assembled her kit to heat all of the ingredients to a boil. A specified number of minutes and stirs later the liquid changed color and she knew it was ready for the last ingredient. 

Three drops of the volatile oil housed safely in the pendant of her trademark necklace. The special silver and copper alloy it was made of kept the oil from going rancid. In air, the oil only lasted a day or two before every kind of rot would make itself known and render it unusable.

The potion bubbled and changed color to a wonderful shade of gold as the oil did its thing and reacted to what was already mixed together.

Turning off the small burner, and more stirring cooled the drink to a tolerable temperature. Catra always hated this part more than anything else. 

All she could do was wait and pray no one would find her huddled in a bathroom with a scrounged together chemistry kit making what looked like drugs. Impatient person on the best of days, nearing her transmogrification made waiting for things a special kind of hell.

Finally when the glass was cool enough to touch, Catra readied herself for the buzz kill that the potion always gave her. It suppressed everything temporarily and made it so she could survive in society without beating people up or randomly transforming.

Brightly colored as it was, the potion tasted like nothing at all. Once it was down, Catra sat on the toilet for a while and waited for it to take effect. Soon enough, she felt the hair on the back of her neck relax and her emotions dulled somewhat pleasantly before passing into unpleasant territory. Her rabid restlessness lessoned to a bearable level that a fidget toy would solve. It was a buzz kill in every sense of the word but it clarified the world for her so she could function on these days even if it dulled all the good stuff too. 

Three taps on the door made Catra jump.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Adoras voice came through the wood, ”everyone’s ready to go. Scorpia said you were good but I wanted to check on you to make sure.” 

“Oh uh yeah I’m good. Car sick. Give me a few more minutes and I think it’ll be out of my system, ” Catra lied. “but thanks.”

“Okay, I’ll be in the living room. Shoot me a text if you need anything.”

Catra heard footsteps leaving the door and she breathed a sigh. That could have been bad. 

Catra felt her muscles relax and brain calm to a point she knew she could be in public before she left the bathroom. Scorpia and Adora were waiting for her in the living room. They looked at her worriedly but in different ways.

Catra realized how empty the room was. 

“Uhhh… where’s everyone else?”

“They’re waiting in the cars, the two of us wanted to make sure you were okay, “ Adora said. 

“You good Wildcat?” Scorpia piped up.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go,” Catra said, walking to the door.

There wasn't much to say on the trip to town. Catra felt her meds more and more and the zombie mode Catra was used to crept in. Adora tried to start more than one conversation but Catra didn’t feel it in her to keep up the talking.

The trees even began to lose their color. The vibrant oranges and yellows fell to ugly browns and dead branches. It wasn't to say everything was sad. It was just neutral. Absolutely, completely, and utterly neutral. It reminded Catra of the depression she fought but in artificial form. 

Obviously it was, but she could  _ feel _ it. 

In town it was decided to start at one end of the long strip and work their way to the other side of all the brightly colored shops and old buildings. Catra floated in the back not wanting to raise attention to herself. Even Scorpia who would usually try to break Catra out if her shell didn’t say much towards Catras.

After a few stores Catra didn’t really remember seeing, they ended up in yet another generic tourist clothing and knick knacks store. Catra would have normally been gritting her teeth at the number of places selling the exact same stuff and stupid tacky souveniers but her emotions were stubborningly locked away for the time being so apathy coated every wire in her brain.

“Catraaa!” She heard a sing-songy voice from around a rack of clothes, “what do you think?" Oh right, Adora hadn't wandered far from Catra this whole time.

Catra turned to see Adora in the absolute most horrible excuse of a hoodie she had ever seen. It was truly fucking hideous with all the pastel colors of the 1980’s and sleeves so long Adoras hands were completely hidden even though the rest of the hoodie looked to be Adoras size. On the front was a picture of a cat saying ‘hang in there’. Adora did a twirl and Catra noticed the pointed (and still pastely) hood that adorned the back.

An involuntary smile came to Catras lips as Adora gave her a lopsided grin as she watched Catras reaction.

“I think you should get it, it looks good on you. Promise, ” Catra laid on thickly.

“Really? You like it? I was a little hesitant because of the hood but I trust you,” Adora grinned and looked at the tag on the sleeve, “and it’s a steal! A flat $69. With prices like that how could I not get it?”

“Oh my god you’re such a fucking dork,” Catra felt laughter bubble up from somewhere. “also, heehee. Noice."

They both fell into more laughs and giggling. 

With much back and forth banter over whether or not Adora should buy the hoodie, Catra wanted her to keep it on the rest of the day. She was sure Adora would find a mate by sunset. Adora however, was put off by the price not being right and tried talking herself and Catra out of the hoodie. 

With as much sarcastic hesitance as she could muster, Adora reluctantly put the abomination back on the shelf, Catra still trying to talk Adora into the hoodie while they tried to keep their laughter to inside voices. Catra even found herself compelled to touch Adora by playfully slapping her on the arm and brushing Adoras hair out of the way when Catra put it upon herself to see Adora with the hood up.

Somehow this angel was bringing life back into the artificial emptiness. She realized how much Adora filled that emptiness when it was real too. 

She held onto it as tightly and secretly as she could, not wanting it to slip away or be taken from her. 

… 

Adora followed Catra around the shop after she finally convinced Catra the pastel hoodie from the 1980’s just didn't work with her particular Aesthetic TM.

They continued perusing the selection of shirts and goodies when Catra stopped in front of a rack of athletic hoodies. Adora pretended to look at the shirts next to her but could only think about how Catras small frame would look in a skin tight hoodie.  _ No, bad Adora, we’re friends. _

After thumbing through the selection, Catra picked one hoodie from the rack and raised it up to Adora at arms length. 

“Hey Adora,” Catra purred, “I'm gonna need you to try this one on for me.“

The black athletic hoodie may as well have been a little dress for saturday night raves with how stretchy the fabric was. The hoodie looked like it would be small on Catra, let alone Adoras own frame that had at least a foot and a few dozen pounds on Catra. 

Oh man Catras not pulling back. How did Adora get in this situation? 

“What makes you think I’ll just try on anything you put in front of me? That thing looks two sizes too small,” Adora smirked, she wasn’t going to let Catra get off that easily.

“Let’s just say I have good intuition with this kind of thing,” Catra said with a toothy grin, bouncing the hoodie with impatience at Adora. 

She didn’t answer Adoras second question. Or was it an answer to both?

Adora didn't wake up this morning thinking she would be showing herself off to Catra tonight like this. 

Weren’t they trying to stay friends? Adora didn’t want to push herself onto Catra but at the same time Catra was the one who wanted her to try the hoodie on.

Making up her thirsty mind, Adora snatched the hoodie and began trying to get it on over her own long sleeve shirt. The hoodie was absolutely an athletic fit but it wasn’t uncomfortable, the fabric was so stretchy she didn't feel like she was being constricted. 

_ This would be nice to workout in if I didn't have a giant shirt on underneath.  _

Catra was good at this.

Zipping the hoodie all the way up, Adora looked to Catra to see her reaction.

Catras eyes were wide as saucers. Her mouth appeared slightly ajar.

Adora took the nonverbal answer and felt the urge to strike a pose having no idea what she was doing. Putting her arms behind her head, then turning to face sideways to Catra.

“Well? How’s it look?”

Catra didn’t say anything, only stared at Adora. Adora could practically see her undressing Adora with her eyes.

It was thrilling and scary at the same time. Oh no, she might be able to get used to this. 

And maybe this crush wasn't unrequited after all.

“Damn Adora, looking finnnne!” shouted Glimmer who aparated out of nowhere from behind a rack of clothes. Catra jumped, seemingly ripped from her daydream Adora desperately wished she was a part of. 

Heat crept up Adoras neck as she realized Catra wasn’t the only one looking. Glimmer was there and so was Frosta and Mermista (who to be fair was mostly looking away towards sea hawk who was trying on a ridiculous pirate themed jacket). They wore faces of quiet knowing which only added to the heat creeping up her face. Adora thought she saw Catras' complexion darken a shade or two.

“Uhh thanks Glimmer,” Adora answered before beginning to take the hoodie off, not quite wanting to feel it hug her curves anymore.

The hoodie almost caught her shirt as she took it off causing Adora to scramble getting her shirt under control so Catra wouldn't see her scars. 

Right. That's why Adora didn't wear small clothing.

As Adora put the hoodie back on its hanger, her friends dispersed back to their own shopping and Adora’s hot face began to cool. 

“You uh looked good,” Catra barely whispered behind Adora so she was the only person in the world who could hear.

The blush came back but wasn't unpleasant anymore.

“You mean that? Thanks. You’re um, really the only person I wanted to see that,” Adora spoke shyly.

Adora barely heard a confirmation to her question as Catra turned to keep shopping. They wandered through the rest of the store, mostly just enjoying each other's company. At some point, Entrapta found Catra and asked for her advice on some car stickers she thought would look good on Scorpia’s car. With a huff, Catra walked off to help, or pretend to help, Adora wasn't sure which. 

Catras face when Adora tried on the hoodie popped back into Adora’s head.

Adora wasn’t the type to show off her assets or anything. The less people who knew about her body the better. She sure as hell wouldn’t be caught in anything revealing. Even around her friends. The scars on her abdomen weren’t easy to hide without something baggy. 

But that rush felt good. Knowing someone liked the way she looked. At least from someone she wants to get that from.

Adora spun around and grabbed the hoodie while Catra, or anyone for that matter, wasn’t looking. She wasn’t ready to show anyone anything but maybe this hoodie might help to expand the horizon so to speak. Maybe she'd find a way to get that small rush again she got when Catra was looking at her. 

...

Glimmer and Bow of course practically bought the store out, walking away with bags of new things to wear and silly keepsakes only they would find funny. Their openness with each other was something Adora admired about them. 

She had tried to do that in the past but she wasn’t very good at it. At least she'd been able to raise the courage for the thirty seconds it took to ask Catra out on a date. 

It had gone better then she could have ever dreamed for.

The gang finished their purchases, Adora hiding hers by putting it in the smallest bag she could get and stuffing it deep into her backpack. At some point someone had found a headband with cat ears and put it on Catra. Outwardly she was moody about it but Adora could see the small smile and the half assed scolding she gave anyone who dared bring them up.

Adora wanted to play with them for the rest of the night just to see catra make that adorable scowl. 

Continuing down the old town street, everyone mozied and some complained about being hungry. While Catra was looking better then she had back at the cabin, she was still stubborningly quiet. Adora wasn’t sure if car sickness usually lasted this long but she’d never had it before so she didn’t want to pry. She followed the group without saying much, hoping Catra would open up more as the evening progressed.

“There!” shouted Entrapta pointing and jumping to a candy store.

Rather, it looked to be a bakery and a candy store. There were the smallest cupcakes Adora had ever seen in all their glory on display in the front window. Adora heard Catra snicker from next to her.

“Of course Entrapta would find the smallest dessert food in town,” she turned to look at Adora, “it's one of her things.”

“I want six,” Adora said without thinking about it. Even before she became a vampire, her sweet tooth had always been insatiable. 

The prospect of a one of a kind candy store and bakery was not something Adora could pass up. She quickly followed Entrapta leaving everyone else in the dust to grumble petty complaints like 'we’re going to get food right now' and 'don't spoil your dinner'. 

Cupcakes acquired, Adora and Entrapta dug into the box of goodies and munched on the best tiny cupcakes Adora had ever eaten. They followed behind everyone, happy with their catch. 

Entrapta had fairly refined tastes in tiny treats, only getting a certain few flavors she said were the ones that would prove if a bakery knew what they were doing or not. Adora enjoyed her vanilla and chocolate cupcakes like the basic ho she was. 

"Those look amazing," Perfuma said walking up next to Entrapta. 

"I have more experiments to run on these samples, but my initial findings seem promising," Entrapta said as she swallowed another cupcake whole. 

"Is there any chance you require research assistants Doctor?" Scorpia said, appearing next to Perfuma. 

"I prefer to work alone. Helps me think better," Entrapta said without missing a beat. An awkward silence began to expand before Entrapta face palmed. "you were using a metaphor weren't you? Would you like a cupcake?" 

Scorpia simply smiled and nodded, apparently used to Entrapta bluntness. 

Once Scorpia had her treasure, Entrapta tilted the box to Perfuma who happily took a cupcake as well. 

"Now assistants, how would you rate the overall sweetness of your samples?" 

Adora quickly tuned out the conversation and instead focused on her cupcakes as well as her surroundings. 

The sun was starting to get low in the sky and with it, the temperature dropped quickly in the fall air. Street lights and decorative lights alike slowly turned on as the sun set, bathing the street in colorful light. Even with the onset of night, Adora could still see perfectly well. She didn't mind the temperature drop either even as others absently put on hoodies and hats. Just to be safe, Adora threw on a baggy hoodie from her backpack to avoid any questions about the temperature. Being a vampire had one or two perks even if Adora did everything in her power to keep them secret. She still worried about her eyes reflecting light even though the contacts she wore were supposed to stop that from happening. 

The group decided to have a late night with dinner followed by partying. Adora was happy to spend time with her friends but she wasn’t sure if she had the energy to make a long party night. She’d go as long as she could then call a Lyft or something to get her back to the cabin. Checking the app, it looked like there were readily available rides. 

Catra had gone up ahead in the group to talk to Scorpia and Entrapta after the cupcakes experiments ended. Adora was fine to stay in the back and reserve some of her Spoons for the night. Enjoying the quiet time, Adora simply observed her friends. 

She was delighted at the sight of Perfuma and Entrapta walking next to each other. They looked happy. She ignored the slight pain of jealousy. 

Adoras gaze slid to Catras back. She was getting more and more sure of herself that this crush she had was turning into something real. She never thought she would find love. She wasn’t the most romantic person in the world but she still yearned for it.

She was lucky she ended up a lesbian. The government agents strictly forbid her from ever having children so at least she didn't have to worry about that. 

They'd spent a lot of time telling Adora what she should and shouldn't do in order to keep the public safe. 

They showed Angella how to keep Adora under control and in turn she taught Glimmer how to keep Adora under wraps, 'taking care of' as Angella would say. 

They meant the best for Adora but it was suffocating most of the time. Adora had to spend so much of her time hiding and going out her way not to get to know people. 

At least they didn't lock her up in a prison cell or anything (according to the agent, confinement was what happened to most people) but she was sure she wouldn't ever get that opportunity if she hurt someone. 

Her thoughts spiraled for another moment before she noticed Scorpia giving Catra a big crushing hug but quickly put her down. They both had big smiles.

They continued next to each other for a while when Catra gave Scorpia a pat on the back before veering off the pathway they were on. Scorpia didn’t seem to pay any attention and went right to talking to Perfuma. 

Adoras head followed Catra to watch her go down the other bend that led off to a different part of town. 

Adora stopped her pace and watched as both her party and Catra went at the same speed but in different directions. The thought of an evening getting drunk in a bar didn’t seem as much fun as… 

Her legs went into action before she finished her thought. 

…An evening with Catra. 

Adora trailed behind Catra until her friends were out of earshot, then she picked up the pace and made her way to Catras side. 

“Hey Adora,” Catra purred. She keeps doing that today! Purring. Not like actual purring but a tone in her voice Adora wasn't sure of what it meant but it gave her pleasant tingles down her neck.

“Where are you going? The party is that way,” Adora pointed behind them. 

“I know, I wanted to do something else.”

“And what is that?”

“It’s a surprise,” Catra let out a toothy grin. 

“Why is it a surprise? Wait, did you know I would follow you or something?”

“No,” Catra let her grin fall to something gentler, shyer. "but I hoped you would." 

Adoras heart skipped a beat or four. She wanted to spend time with Adora. Only Adora. The implications made her mind race but she tried to stay cool. Not knowing what to say, Adora simply strided up next to Catra and followed her pace, letting her lead the way. 

They didn’t speak, the silence enjoyable and easy. Like they both needed it. Oranges and purples and pinks streaked across the skyline and on the mountains and clouds in the background. Adora dared to think it was romantic. 

Catra led Adora in through a door to a warmly lit building hidden amongst other larger buildings. Walking inside, Adora was met with the smell of coffee and homemade baked goods. Much like the café she worked at. She turned her head to look at Catra and raised an eyebrow. 

“I heard good things about this café, I was hoping you'd want to try it. And it's quiet. And not a bar,” Catra said, the shyness still seeping through. 

Adora wondered if Catra was trying to say more. Adora figured out Catra was someone who let her actions speak more than her words. Did this just turn into a coffee date AU or something?

Her heart pumped at the thought of getting to be on another date with Catra but she was scared to actually say anything for fear of pushing Catra away. 

“Let's give it a try then. I could use more quiet time after being around our friends all day," Adora finally blurted out when she remembered she needed to say something. Anything. 

Catra lit up at Adoras words. She smiled and nodded before turning around and walking to the counter to order. Adora followed and started looking at the menu.

Catra was easy, she got what she always got, a mocha frap with her usual shot of espresso. 

"ADHD," Catra said when she saw the look Adora gave. "caffeine doesn't do anything to me unless I go wild and add like three shots or something."

"Uh-huh? Interesting, I didn't know that was a thing." 

Adora got a house coffee to see how it was, and a muffin because her sweet tooth hadn’t been sated enough already. They sat and enjoyed each other's company while they sipped their drinks. 

“Thanks for coming on this trip. I know we’ve only really known each other for a few months but it's been really great getting to know you,” Adora said between bites of her muffin. 

“Yeah, me too. I'm not the best at making friends but it's been great to meet you and get to know your friends. They seem to have easily assimilated Scorpia and Entrapta which I really appreciate.”

“They’re a lot, but they're good people. They’ve helped me through a lot of bad times in my life. When there was literally no one else there.” Adora thought of her younger self, being introduced to Angella soon after her parents had been killed and how comforting Glimmer was during that time. Having Glimmer introduce her to the Best Friends Squad. She smiled.

“It's good to have those kinds of people around. Scorpia and Entrapta were those kinds of friends for me during a…rough patch, I had with my family,” Catra spoke into her straw. Adora could tell from Catras pause that ‘rough patch’ was a much toned down term. 

“Well if you want anymore, you'll have a lot more people in your corner. I know I can speak for everyone when I say they’d stand beside you no matter what since you're friends with me now.”

“Thanks. That’s uhh… nice to hear.”

Adora could tell Catra wasn’t convinced in the slightest. Adora knew that feeling. It took a long time to trust anyone after losing her parents and having to learn how to live with her illness. She hoped Catras case wasn’t as tragic as her own, but it still obviously bothered her which made Adora sad. 

“Hey, I mean it. And I'm not going anywhere either,” Adora put her hand on top of Catras, “I promise. I hope I'm not saying too much when I say you really get me. And it's been amazing getting to know you. I don’t want anything to come between us.”

Catra sat with wide eyes at Adoras words. Her drink, forgotten in her hand while the other was occupied by Adoras hand. Adora could see the gears turning in Catra's head. 

After a moment, her eyes softened and looked down to look at Adoras hand over her own before a small smile came to her lips. 

“Yeah,” was all Catra said before turning her hand over and grasping Adoras. She looked up and stared into Adoras eyes.

Adora gazed into Catras beautiful eyes. She hadn’t noticed how blue the right eye was and how auburn, almost gold, her left eyes shone. How Catras hair framed her head like a mane, crazy, but still managed. Adora hadn’t noticed the light freckles that dotted Catras nose and cheeks, they were fairly well hidden, camouflaged against her dark skin tone. Adora resigned herself to memorizing the location of each one. 

They continued looking at each other, no words spoken until the bell on the door to the café rang and new patrons walked in. The trance broke and their hands moved away from each other. Catra found her drink while Adora looked around the room and observed the people who had walked in. 

An idea clicked in Adoras head and she dove into her backpack to find what she was looking for. She rummaged until she felt the smooth fabric she was looking for.

“So you got to see me in this earlier, but now I'm gonna need you to try this on for me,” Adora said, with shit eating grin as she whipped the black hoodie from her backpack and held it in her hands. Her eyes flicked from the hoodie to Adora, processing what she said before letting her own grin come forth. 

“Using my own words against me. I didn’t know you knew how to fight dirty princess. I thought you were better than that,” Catra grinned as she took the hoodie nonetheless. 

Without waiting, she shrugged into it and zipped it up. It was looser than if on Adora, but it still hugged her frame nicely. She looked sexy in it. Adora knew why Catra had chosen it earlier now. 

“I would ask how I look but your face says it all,” Catra noted slyly. Adora felt heat come to her cheeks. She got what she wanted, why was it so hard to talk now? “I didn’t know you bought this earlier. Or did you steal it? Oh my god you totally stole it didn’t you!” Catra smacked her hands on the table with a huge smile, enjoying the torture she was subjecting Adora to. 

“I did not! I thought about it while everyone was leaving and I decided I liked it,” Adora folded her arms in front of her and looked away with a scowl. 

Catra laughed, still enjoying Adoras discomfort. 

Adora continued, hoping to appease Catra, “you liked how I looked in it and I don’t normally wear stuff like that so I thought I would give it a try,” still not looking at Catra. 

“Thank you for admitting I was right,” Catra grinned. 

“About what?”

“About the fact that you don't own any article of clothing less than two sizes too big for you. Take that Scorpia!”

“You’re the fricken worst Catra! Don’t expose me like that! Uh metaphorically speaking,” Adora finished realizing too late what she had said. 

Catra responded with another bout of laughter, but Adora couldnt help but join in.

As the laughter faded, Catra kept smiling, but in a different way. It was kind, like she was empathizing with Adora, “do you mind if I wear this for a bit? I'm growing more attached to it,” and the toothy grin was back. Adora couldn’t help but smile.

“Go for it, you're probably the only person who's ever going to know I own it,” Adora said flippantly.

“What do you mean? I'd wear this baby all the time if it was mine! It makes people swoon left and right. You wouldn’t even tell Glitz or Crop Top?”

“No I wouldn’t tell Glimmer or Bow,” Adora enunciated their names as a point, “it's just something I wanted to try out to see if I like it. I'm not much into showing myself off.”

“Well let's see if we can't change that at some point, because I think it works really well for you,” Catra with a genuine smile. 

Adora nodded shyly, finishing the last sips of her coffee and enjoying the earnestness Catra was showing. Adora had spent a long time hiding, it had become automatic. 

They left soon after because the shop was closing and they didn’t want to be  _ those _ customers. 

Catra, still wearing the hoodie, Adora with her backpack and long sleeves decided to make their way back to the cabin. It was an easy walk. They could have picked up a Lyft or something but the trail back was easy and level enough to traverse in the still barely lit sky as well as the moon shining overhead. 

As they walked, idol chat kept them busy. Nighttime wildlife was beginning to wake up and more and more nocturnal noises and calls came from the forest. Adora's sensitive hearing picked up on everything in the woods around her. She was glad her ears didn't twitch like a cat everytime they picked something up. 

The evening was getting chilly, even if she probably should have been wearing a coat, Adora was fine. Adora had decided she wouldn’t bring up Catra still wearing the hoodie. Even when she wasn’t showing signs of vampirism, the lack of feeling cold was still prevalent. It was easy to hide, with jests of being a warm body, which she was grateful for. 

As they walked, occasionally their shoulders would bump trying to stay close. It would be so easy for Adora to reach over and take Catras hand.  _ She just wants to be friends. _

Friends could hold hands, Glimmer and Bow did it all the time. She had seen Entrapta and Perfuma do it as well. But both Catra and Adora had theorized they were becoming more than friends and Adora knew Glimmer and Bow were something of a couple.

What if Catra really didn’t want to hold Adoras hand? How would she react?

Warnings from Adoras mind rang in her head.  _ What do you do if you can't get back to Glimmer or Ang- mom _ ? 

Adora would have to have that conversation at some point with Catra if she ever really wanted to move things forward. Maybe the longer they’re together, the easier it’ll be to tell Catra later down the line. 

What if all of her intuition is true and Catra really did have feelings for her? They could be together. Adora wanted that. Or at the very least to tell Catra how she really felt. 

That she was in love with Catra. 

_ Think of the positives and they will happen _ . At least that’s what Adora had heard somewhere, she never had much of a reason to test it until now. 

Adora waited until her shoulder bumped Catras again and quickly grabbed Catras hand. She waited for a reaction, or words or anything as she did her best not to show how much her stomach turned when she made contact with Catras hand. 

Did Catra tense up too when Adora touched her hand?

Catra really didn’t like being touched from what Adora had gathered seeing her refusal of hugs from Scorpia and anybody else for that matter. 

Adora held her breath.

Catras fingers slowly inched into movement. 

And slid themselves between Adoras own. 

The world crashed back in as their fingers locked. 

The gentle wind in the pine trees. 

Owls hooting in the distance. 

The sounds of a thunderstorm coming over the mountains. 

Adora didn’t dare speak for fear of breaking the trance she and Catra were in. She hazarded a guess that Catra was the same way, occasional glances told Adora, that Catra was trying to play it cool but would look in the other direction when she caught Adora looking. 

It was a peaceful walk. 

Adora treasured every moment and wanted to tell Catra she wanted more of this. The thought of directly telling Catra how she felt was getting harder to avoid. 

The end of the trip. That's when she would ask Catra if she would be her girlfriend. It seemed like the best time of any to do it. If Catra turned her down again, they could go their separate ways and Adora would forget about this crush. 

But what if Catra felt the same way?  _ Think of the positives and they will happen.  _

Walking up to the cabin, the house was completely dark. Everyone must still be out having fun. A quick glance at her phone told Adora it was only 9:40pm. 

The world lit up for a fraction of a second before darkening again. Heat lightning lit the sky every few seconds. The occasional bolt would hurl itself from the sky, followed by a rumble of thunder.

Catra and Adora climbed the steps to the porch that wrapped around the house. Chairs and benches lazily sat along the wall and outer railing. 

A few quick nudges, nods, and smiles, Catra and Adora forwent the front door and walked the porch, around to the side of the house with the best view of the mountains and building thunderstorm. 

The best couch of them all sat dead center on that stretch of porch, like it was waiting for them. They sat down as the first pitter patter of raindrops tapped against the roof above them. 

Their hands never separated. 

The thunder was getting more powerful. 

They sat shoulder to shoulder, watching the storm roll over the mountain range. 

The rain became stronger, coming faster and with more intensity. 

“Thanks for coming tonight,” Catra softly piped up, “I had a nice time.”

“Me too. I needed this,” Adora almost whispered.

Catra simply rested her head on Adoras shoulder. She inhaled deeply, sounding content. Adora could smell the storm too, it was amazing, powerful, but still peaceful and benevolent. 

"I need to tell you something," Catra said, breaking the silence. Adoras heart skipped and her anxiety kicked in but she tried to not show it. "I don't want to beat around the bush anymore. I like you. A lot. I haven't met anyone like you before and I don't want to lie to you.

“I'm not normal. I mean I am but there's more. Geez it's been a long time since I've had to do this," Catra rubbed her face with her free hand. "what I'm trying to say as uneloquently as possible is that I'm a therianthrope. A werecat. Like, werewolf but I'm crossed with a feline. 

I know this sounds crazy but it's the truth. I've been this way my whole life. If I want to keep you in my life, I don't want to lie anymore, and I need to know if you want to stick around after this conversation, " Catra finished and went stone silent, waiting for Adoras reaction. 

What were the odds Catra was also of a supernatural type? Adora had only known herself as well as her friends and a few people Angella knew. Of course there were others but it wasn't exactly front page news. Every kind of supernatural being kept to themselves and a very select few people. Normal humans didn't take kindly to outsiders. 

And Catra just told Adora. Most likely with all that knowledge and with the thought that Adora herself was a normal person. 

Now Adora knew. 

She had to be careful with this knowledge or it could destroy their friendship. 

Now Catra didn't know about Adora. Of her own illness. It seemed like Catra had a good handle on being a werecat. Adora barely scraped by most of the time, or at least that's how it felt. She wondered if Catra gained any other abilities while a werecat. Adora certainly did. 

Too bad they were all geared towards hunting and killing people.

Adora was a predator. Hard and simple. 

_ No. Not yet. _ Adora couldn't do it. She would keep her ruse up and pray Catra could forgive her for her cowardice. 

"Wow. That's. Really? I've read about werecats while I was in school. A lot less people are familiar with werecats than werewolves. Thank you for telling me I guess. I don't think any differently of you if that helps, and I'm not going anywhere as long as you'll have me." 

Catra sighed shakily, the anxiety melting away, "you're the first person I've told since Scorpia and Entrapta. They're the only people besides blood relatives that know. So please don't tell anyone else. Like at all. No matter what. I promise I'm completely harmless to you and anyone else. "

Oof. That hit hard and close to home. Adora had long ago learned there was always a chance she could hurt someone. The right circumstances or events in the right order could put Adora in a very bad position. She knew the worry of whether or not she would hurt people all too well and had learned to live with it. 

"It's okay, I trust you Catra. You’ve never given me a reason to fear you. Thank you again for telling me." 

Catra squeezed Adora’s hand. 

Another peaceful silence took hold. Adora contemplated what she had been told. She was still Catra. The person who Adora was falling in love with. Adora owed it to her now more than ever to tell Catra the truth followed by a spike in anxiety at the thought of coming out to anyone. The fear of losing her was too great. Too many old fears kept her mouth zipped shut.

The end of the trip. Thats when Adora could do it. She had already resigned herself to that deadline but it seemed they were having this conversation now. 

Adora felt Catra relax her head into her shoulder again. They were still leaning into each other, watching the rainstorm move across the valley. It was beautiful. 

Even if Adora wasn't ready to tell Catra she was a vampire, she still had the balls to say the next biggest thing she had been holding back from Catra, "I like you too. A lot. You're amazing and I'm so lucky to have you in my life."

Catra squeezed Adoras hand again and that was the end of the conversation. They continued to watch the storm until the pitter patter of the rain and the gentle thunder lulled them to sleep. 

...

Hours later, the rest of the Ultimate Pal Squad came in laughing and jeering over the night's shenanigans. They found Catra and Adora snuggled up together on the couch, hand in hand, Catra sleeping on Adoras shoulder and Adora’s head resting on Catra’s. Oddly, Catra was wearing a black hoodie no one recognized but it didn't matter, no one would remember it the next morning with all the booze in their systems. 

Even in their drunk or high states, no one dared wake the two snuggle buddies up and left them alone. They all knew what was going on and knew their respective friends well enough to know waking them up would break apart whatever world they created for themselves when they were together. 

That didn’t stop Glimmer and Bow from taking photos for blackmail/ future wedding photos though. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Twitter if you want to see some behind the scenes stuff and other rough drafts and drabbles!
> 
> @409plantlover
> 
> You can also send me a Kofi by heading to my pinned tweet.
> 
> And Leave a comment! It's wonderful to see what you all think of the story!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back everyone!
> 
> Please enjoy the fluff and let me know what you think!

Saturday morning came with sunny skies. The storm from the night before had pattered for a few hours before moving on, making the trees dewy and sparkly in the morning light. Petrichor hung densely in the burning fog. 

Catra rolled over in bed as the late morning sun beamed through the window. 

A snore from Adora next to her reminded Catra of their porch side cuddle party.  _ Fuck I hope no one saw us on the way in. They would all have been drunk right? Yeah, for sure. And we were on the far side of the house. Yeah we're good.  _

_... _

It wasn't until an annoyingly loud chipmunk jolted Catra out of her sleep ready to catch breakfast (read: Mode-Danger Kitty, according to Entraptas official term for the mood), then she realized the time (the sun was rising) and she and Adora were coiled up in each other on the big ass lounge chair they fell asleep in. 

Werecat wanted snacc. 

Catra, didn't want to eat a chipmunk.

Instead of indulging in the hunt, she extracted herself from Adora before gently waking her up and filling her in on the situation.

_ Everyone should still be asleep.  _

It went unsaid that they were not ready to spill the beans to everyone just yet. Catra was still coming to terms with everything and she wasn't especially ready for the  _ gusto _ Scorpia would exude when she found out Catra and Adora were becoming more than friends.

They snuck inside, dodged a sleeping Entrapta, and made it to their assigned room before passing out again. 

...

Catra and Adora were awake long before any of their sure to be suffering friends. 

Altitude is a bitch.

Being the good friends they were, Catra and Adora took it upon themselves to make a decadent breakfast to heal the zombies whenever they showed their faces. 

Catra busied herself with pancakes while Adora worked to spread bacon on baking sheets to go in the oven, as well as crack eggs for Catra to cook with. 

“I know why they named you now,” Catra said as she flipped a pancake. 

“What do you mean?” Adora said as she looked at her phone for the right temperature to cook bacon at, for the third time, egg in the other hand waiting to be cracked. She somehow had flour on her cheek? How the hell did she manage that? She hadn't been near the pancake mix when  _ Catra  _ worked it together. 

“You're  _ Adorable _ , Adora _. _ ” 

"Ha. Wow. What makes you say that?" 

"If I told you, you would stop doing what you're doing so I'm not. So please just keep doing you."

"And you'd have a nasty ding to that prickly exterior you insist you have."

_ Oh that's how it is?  _ Catra loved the banter they could throw at each other.

She flipped a pancake, "yeah yeah princess, whatever. Can I have that egg or were you going to incubate it for the rest of the day?”

Adora looked at her like she was calculating the benefits and consequences of throwing said egg at Catra. All it did was make Catra laugh as Adora fumed.

The rest of breakfast was finished with no eggs thrown and Catra was hopeful her prickly exterior was still intact. At this point, Adora was in a very elite group (Entrapta and Scorpia were co-president) of people who got to see this side of Catra. 

The sounds of a violent and digestive related wake up call alerted Catra. 

“The zombies rise,” Catra joked. 

“Oof. I guess it is fitting. Spooky season is almost upon us.”

“I vant to sack yo blooood,” Catra rolled off and made finger fangs.

“Haha, yeeeah,” Adora said. Catra heard a dip in Adoras tone that gave Catra pause. 

Scorpia made her way in first, holding her head and squinting at the morning light. 

Without a word Catra helped Scorpia sit and made her a tall glass of ice water and a healthy plate of grease to begin the process. A content nod from Scorpia was all Catra needed to know she was doing good. 

It must have been a fun night if Scorpia was too far gone to talk before showing her face. 

Slowly, the rest of the crew made their way out to the kitchen for breakfast. All with varying severities of hungoveredness. To Catras amazement, Glimmer skipped into the kitchen without a worry in the world. Catra had been lowkey looking forward to seeing what hungover Glimmer looked like, if only to be able to use it against her for the rest of her life. She must have appointed herself Party Mom last night and abstained. 

As everyone ate, talking slowly began and the tales of the night before were told to Adora and Catra while they poked fun at their friends.

“How are you this peppy after last night?” Scorpia grumbled to Glimmer, still holding her head.

“Oh I have my ways! Ah-ho-ho!” Glimmer laughed like an anime girl. 

“Wait, you were drinking too?” Catra said incredulously. 

“Wouldn't you like to know?” Glimmer scowled. 

“There were experiments based on the consumption of alcohol within timed periods,” Entrapta interjected, looking at her notes and munching on the last tiny cupcake from the day before. She was fine of course. Entrapta hated drinking.

“The real question is where  _ you two _ got off to. You were gone before we got to the restaurant!” Glimmer accused. Mermista winced and gave Glimmer a pained glare, making Glimmer smile guiltily and calmed down somewhat.

Adora for her part only coughed and didn't snarf the glass of milk she was drinking.

"Watch it Glitter, we were just hanging out."

"Uh-huh. Just the two of you, alone, together. What did you do alone together?" Glitter was getting entirely too much enjoyment out of this. Did she know something? 

Adora came to Catras rescue, "we went to a local cafe to get coffee before we came back here to watch movies."

"That's nice. What did you guys watch?" Glitter said with an evil sparkle in her eye.  _ Fuck.  _

"We watched… Uh.. What did we watch again, Catra? I fell asleep after like ten minutes."

“Psh, like I know. I was asleep almost as fast," Catra said, hoping it sounded convincing. 

“Ugh, Glimmer shut it, we get it. They were on a date. Please. I'm dying here," Mermista groaned to Glimmer

“Oh. Right. Uhh sorry,” Glimmer said deflating. “but you better believe I'm going to bring it up later.”

Catra continued to fume but nobody said anything further on the topic.  _ Breathe. It's not worth going werecat on her. Fucking barely.  _

It didn't help that Glitter had such a perfectly punchable face. There would be consequences to her actions! Her knowing look made Catra wither slightly.  _ What does she know?  _

Catra continued to concoct ever more creative ways to bring Glimmer down while the Ultimate Pal Squad decided to visit the historic amusement park and alpine sled that sat at the edge of town. 

When the moment was right, Catra stole away to her and Adora's room to make her philter for the day. Her mood dimmed as it took effect while everyone piled into cars for the drive. 

Catra wanted to tell Adora but held back. 

Catra had said literally the night before she wasn't dangerous in any way, now she was thinking about telling Adora she was taking her anti-crazy pills or whatever fucking were? No, Catra didn't want Adora in so much so soon.

Luckily Adora was doing a good job of keeping Catras mood up by being the big dumb blonde goofball she was and  doing what Catra was getting used to calling 'good touches'. 

She had never met anyone before that she really truly enjoyed being touched by but somehow Adora knew just when and where and for how long to make hugs or shoulder touches and Catras new favorite, hand holding. 

The drive to the amusement park was fairly easy, and there were enough cars that everyone didn't have to squish in like sardines. Catra sat next to Adora not really paying attention when she felt a hand slowly grasp her’s from under the hoodie Adora had draped over both of their laps.

The sneaky bugger. 

Taking a second to enjoy the contact, Catra looked over to Adora who was engrossed in the conversation of the car at that moment. Occasionally she would throw quick glances to Catra and give a smile that melted Catras cold heart.

And fuck did she smell amazing like always. 

Totally not in a creepy way of course. 

_ Fuck, it becomes creepy if you think about it dumbass! _

… 

The amusement park was more of a permanent carnival. There was a small janky ferris wheel, a scrambler, and a merry-go-round that all looked as old as the plaques said they were. Other kiddy rides hid among the old buildings and shops that lined the main walking area of the park. 

In the background of the park, three long polished, snaking concrete slides draped over the mountain side overlooking everything. A ski lift brought people and sleds to the top. 

Adora must have been having a field day with the historical crap everywhere. She took her time reading every plaque they went by. 

"You ever been here before?" Catra asked after the party slowed to give Adora more time to read a plaque. 

"A few times but I always enjoy reading them. I love all the little tidbits," Adora smiled and Catra melted. 

Catra continued to ask questions she didn't really care one way or the other. It was good enough to see Adora happy. 

Even if some of the plaques were stupidly corny. Like wow. Bad dad jokes dialed up another notch. Catra did her best not to gag but enjoy it all for what it was, a silly carnival town amusement park thing that wasn't trying to be anything it wasn't. At least Catra could somewhat relate to that last part. 

"Hi, yes we would like two tickets each for eight adults," Perfuma asked politely to the ticketmaster at the beginning of the alpine sled ride. 

"Here you go. Go around the building. Follow the arrows to the ski lift," the bored cashier said as they pointed at the first arrow on the ground. 

The ski lift was only mildly terrifying since it didn't stop moving and it basically scooped everyone off the ground as they stuck their butts out to meet the seat. 

Catra wasn't afraid of heights but the ski lift was grumbly and bouncy with the only thing keeping her in the seat was a metal bar that swung down into your lap, as if that would do fuck all if shit hit the fan. 

So Catra clung to Adora like a wet kitten but still trying to play it cool. By the stupid grin Adora kept plastered on her face, it didn't work. 

"Catra relax geez," Adora mused gently for the second time of the ride. 

"Easy for you to say, you could practically step off this thing with those legs of yours, I on the other hand would fall to my death."

Adora blew a raspberry. The jovial energy was calming at least. 

"I don't know, that tree looks pretty soft as long as you don't hit that one branch there on the side," Adora smirked as she pointed to a tree they were only  _ kind of  _ going over. Smart ass. 

Catra was unamused and didn't stop grabbing Adoras bicep. 

"Hey, seriously, everything’s okay," Adora said with a calming voice. She put a hand over Catras. "Let's play eye-spy, that'll get you to the top of the mountain," she said with a smile. 

Catra, not seeing any way out of her predicament simply nodded and waited for Adora to start the game. 

"I spy with my little eye something, blue." 

Catra looked around for something blue but came up dry except for the sky but Adora wasn't looking up. 

_ Oh duh yeah... _

"That dude with the blazer going half a mile an hour down the sled," Catra said. 

"Ding-ding. Noice," Adora chuckled. "Your turn." 

"Hmm, I spy with my little eye, something green." 

“That tree. No that one. Wait, no that one,” Adora didn't stop.

"No you smart ass,” Catra paused. “It was definitely not any of the ones you just pointed to." Catra smirked like the asshole she knew she was. 

"You're lucky I'm playing this game to make you feel better or I'd throw you off this ski lift myself," Adora said groaning. 

Catra snickered and inoccently poked her cheek to show just how innocent she was. It seemed lost on Adora as she groaned harder and threw up her free arm. 

"That's it, friendship over," Adora said with a pout. 

"No way, you can’t keep yourself off me," Catra purred. 

"Says the one who hasn't stopped groping my arms this entire ride," Adora said looking between Catra and her hands wrapped around the aforementioned bicep. 

"It's for support I swear!" 

"I didn't say it wasn't," Adora said smoothly. 

"Ooh you little..." 

"Hee-hee, but ya know, it got you to the top of the mountain," Adora said, tilting her head towards the rapidly approaching debarking platform. 

Catra had nothing else to say until they had disembarked from the deathtrap and met up with others of their friends group. 

"You two looked cozy, " Mermista said behind Catra and Adora as they waited in line for the slide. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Catra said, swinging around to look at the ocean themed everything person behind her. 

"Oh nothing, just that you two looked like a couple of teens that can't get enough of each other,” Mermista said with a shit eating grin that Catra wanted to smack off. 

"As if." 

Catra put on her best indifferent look, complete with folded arms. She couldn't risk it getting out how much she hated that ski lift but she also didn't want to insinuate there was anything going on between her and Adora. 

"She kind of has a point Catra," Scorpia stepped in, "you two were pretty close together on the seat there." 

_ Oh god dammit not you too. _

"So what if we were, it's not like anything is going on, right Adora?" Catra turned to Adora who was beat red and looking away from everyone. 

_ Way to not show your cards dummy.  _

"Catra!" Entrapta yelled appearing from nowhere and honestly Catra couldn't be happier for the distraction. 

"Sup Trapta? Uhh what's that?" 

Entrapta was carrying, no cradling, a small spray can with no label. 

"I require your assistance as well as one other willing volunteer." 

Everyone turned to see what Entrapta was talking about, Bow, the poor boy was almost about to put his hand up when Catra cut him off, "Ah-ah, you know the rules of this laboratory, informed consent, yes?" Catra said nodding her head expectantly. 

"Right. OH RIGHT! Yes I remember that conversation now.

"I have recently been experimenting with a new nano-polymer friction  _ hyper  _ reducing spray in preparation for this trip and I am ready to begin proper testing on live subjects!" Entrapta talked faster and faster as she went and Catra was worried Entrapta might start frothing at the mouth if she got too far gone. 

"Uh, live subjects?" Bow said worriedly. 

"Of course! I can't use dead subjects. How would I question them afterwards?" Entrapta said as if it was the most obvious fact in the world. 

"This nano whatever isn't going to turn us into dead subjects right?" Catra said. 

"Of course not! Most likely," Entrapta said the last part rather quietly for Catras liking. "Now who wishes to participate?"

"I'll do it," came from a surprisingly calm Adora. Catra was taken aback by this side she hadn't seen before in Adora. 

Was Adora a closeted adrenaline junkie? Or was she stupid? 

"Perfect! Who else wants to participate?" Entrapta said. 

"Wanna race Catra?" Adora said with a new energetic spark in her eyes. 

Catras inner werecat wanted adrenaline. It was so tempting but Catra didn't want to come off as desperate for some action. 

In Catras silence, Adora spoke up again, "Aww c’mon Catra. You're not a chicken are ya?" 

"Oh my god Adora since when are you five years old?" Glimmer exasperated. 

"You're on princess," Catra grinned. 

While they waited for their turns at the dual slides, everyone stood guard as Entrapta lubed up the sled blades. 

They were granted an additional few seconds of lead time for the people in front of them as Adora got into her sled, in her slide. Catra clambered onto her own sled and waited for the green light. 

"Watch your speed, no racing," a bored Chadthaniel droned under his life saver umbrella chair looking setup between Catra and Adora. "pull up on your breaks. Good. Wait." Chad held up a fist and turned to look behind him at the slide. 

"Go." 

Catra pulled down as fast as she could to get herself going. The initial seconds were a bit of a let down until she exited the little runway part. She felt the plastic sled hit the polished concrete and with a nice decline, she gained a ton of speed.

Catra had heard of alpine slides before but had never ridden one herself. 

Was she supposed to be going this fast?

_ Holy fuck that was a sharp turn _ . 

Catra flew through the turn. Her heart dropped as the sled fell a few feet in a steep spot on the track and picked up more speed.

Okay, she could handle this. No problem. 

Slow here, speed up. 

Where's Adora? 

Catra looked over to see Adora as she was gaining on Catra. In that moment, a turn came and Catra lost sight of Adora as she focused on banking and not dying in the cactus she just flew by (was it mentioned this slide was literally two concrete half pipes glued side by side into this random steep AF mountainside?). 

The next straight-away appeared as Catra passed a tree. 

No Adora.

Fuck yeah she was in the le-

The next turn came and Catra did what she could to slow down and make it through. 

Then a bounce.

Air time. 

Ass, meet tea kettle.

Catra rolled into something puffy and she came to a halt. 

“Holy fuck,” Catra said to herself holding her head. 

“Jesus Catra are you okay?!” Catra realized Adora's voice. 

"Ow. Uh yeah I think," Catra said, climbing out of the bush she had rolled into. 

The sled was fairly close to the track still. Catra was a good ten feet from the sled. 

"Whew good, that was a nasty spill. Oh man that was crazy! You flew off the track like a rag doll! Huah-PAH" Adora whooped and began laughing. 

"Yeah yeah whatever. Wait what are YOU doing here? Shouldn't you at the bottom of the hill by now in Winner City?" 

"Would you believe me if I said that and I also had enough time to run up the hill to meet you?" 

"No fucking way! You ran off the track before I did!" Catra waved at Adora. "Thaaaat means I win because I was ahead of you." 

"Pffft as if. You ran off the track too. Disqualified." 

"Loser can't disqualify the winner!"

By this point Catra had scooped up her sled and she and Adora began the not so fun way down the mountain, dragging the heavy ass sleds with them. 

"That sounds like something a lo-," Adora was cut off by the sound of passing laughter as Glimmer and Bow rode by in their respective tracks. Catra was sure she saw Glimmer stick her tongue out as she went by. 

"How are we gonna talk our way out of this one?" Catra said as the laughter diminished. 

"We could not go back," Adora said like it was nothing.

"And what the hell do you mean by  _ that _ ?" 

"They can't question us if they can't find us. I say we make ourselves scarce until around dinner and they'll all forget what happened." 

"Uh huh." 

They would run away together. Live in a cabin in the mountains alone from everyone else while their five cats would laze on the porch and they would talk about gay shit all day long. 

_ No, it's just running away from our friends. Together. To be alone. And not found. But still at a carnival.  _

"Well I think it's a grand plan," Catra said, agreeing to the easiest path.

And so they did. With deft cunning (Catra totally leading point) and Adora as the beautiful sidekick, their stealth mission was a success and they found themselves in the old town area with nothing to do and nowhere to be. 

"Okay big plan maker, now where to?" Catra asked to Adora when they stood in the main plaza of the park. 

"You hungry? That impromptu hike made me hungry," Adora said like the dork she was. 

"I thought you only ingested coffee as sustenance?" 

"Only during the week," Adora fired back. "there." She pointed and started walking towards the hideously overpainted kiosk selling cotton candy on sticks. 

Catra almost retorted before she felt a slight pain of hunger and followed Adora to her sweet sweet doom. 

… 

"Happy?" Catra said after she finished watching Adora deep throat her third corn dog after she finished the cotton candy. 

Catra was still contently munching on her own cotton candy, though the savory smells were starting to change what she was hungry for. 

"Yes, much better." Adora said, chugging her water bottle. 

Catra took a look at her cotton candy before saying, "fuck now I want something salty." 

"I asked if you wanted something at the corn dog stand but nooo 'Cotton candy for me thanks'," Adora imitated. 

"I didn't. At the time. Now I am. Besides there wasn't much to choose from if you didn't want a corn dog or mustard." 

"You got somethin' ta say about mustard?" Adora eyed. 

"Psh as if I'd tell you. Ooh over there!" 

Catra had finally found the source of the smell that was making her mouth water. 

Of course it was another stand with deep fried everything but this stand stood out from the rest. 

It had chicken fingers.

"I wunt thaat," Adora said in a funny voice once she realized what Catra was looking at. 

"Jesus christ you're still hungry? Where do you keep it all?" 

"Hey! Rude much. I'm a growing girl. I need calories to keep up this toned physique," Adora said, flexing her bicep but from under the giant hoodie she was wearing. 

"Sure thing snuggles," Catra finished.

"Oh hey! There you guys are!" came a voice from behind Catra. It was eerily familiar to Scorpia’s voice. 

Catra turned to see it was indeed Scorpia walking by herself.

"I guess they found us," Adora whispered as she smiled and nodded at Scorpia. 

"Where'd you run off to? We waited for y'all at the bottom of the slide but you never showed up?" 

"Oh you know just, uh sneaking? Away?" Adora said like a dumbass. 

"You should have told us you wanted to play hide and seek!" Scorpia.

_ Yeah she'd believe that.  _

"Where's the fun in that? The mystery? Didn't you have fun looking for us?" Catra said. 

"If by fun you mean Glimmer howling in a feral tone while asking employees where you were? Then yes! We had so much fun!" Scorpia said less than thrilled. 

"Oof I forgot about Glimmer," Adora deflated. 

"Psh. She's not your mom. Glitter is way too sparkly for that kind of responsibility," Catra said, trying to sooth Adora. 

"You'd be surprised. Um where is everyone else by the way?" Adora asked Scorpia.

"Bow ran off towards the archery range and everyone kind of gravitated that way," Scorpia said. "and both Entrapta and Perfuma found a candy store Entrapta wanted to look at," Scorpia said, pointing a building with giant rice krispies in the window. 

"Oh lawd," Adora said with candy swirl eyes. 

To Catras amazement an absolute gem of a candy store lay smack dab in the best spot of the market square. 

"Entrapta said we were looking for the rat coaster but she couldn't pass this up," Scorpia said with a worried look. 

Before Scorpia could finish that thought, Catra watched as Adora began floating towards the candy store. 

"Fucking hell Adora you're gonna get sick!" 

No response. Catra should have known better. 

"Can you get Perfuma and Entrapta while you're in there?" Scorpia yelled after Adora. 

No response as the door closed behind Adora. 

"My date was just abducted by a lollipop," Catra exasperated. 

"Oh. My. Gosh! This our first time alone since last night! Tell me everything!" Scorpia said, completely forgetting about her friend probably slipping into a cupcake induced coma as they spoke. 

"It went. Well. We sat on the porch for a long time. The rain was nice. Did you guys get much rain in town? We saw the whole thing as it came over the mountains." 

"That's wonderful. But what about telling her you're a werecat?" Scorpia said, kind of confused. Right, the original mission. 

"Oh. Right, um yes it was great, she was great. It went great. She's totally cool." 

"Wait a second. Did. No. Did it? Did it turn into a date?” Scorpia said, the excitement building on her face. 

“Psh no definitely not. It was an evening where at the end I told Adora I was a werecat. And then we fell asleep on the porch like fucking morons. Okay it might have maybe possibly a little bit turned into sort of, a kind of a date.”

Scorpia didn't so much respond than squeal as she jumped up and down with more vigor. 

People were starting to turn their heads. 

“Dude stop it. No. Stop that! Shut up! Gah, fuck you!” Catra crossed her arms. 

The nerve of this muscly idiot. 

And yet the smile Catra was failing to hide grew bigger. 

“I can't believe it! Ahh I'm sooo happy for you Catra!”

“Oh boy why are we happy for Catra? I’m so happy for you!” Bow yelled having snuck up behind them and scooped Catra up in a hug.

Scorpia must have seen the annoyed look on Catras face by the look she gave. 

“Hey umm bow, you shouldn’t sneak up on Catra like that before you hug her in the future,” Scorpia said shyly. Catras annoyance turned to heartfelt emotion at Scorpia’s words. 

“Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!” Bow yelled (why is he always yelling?) as he dropped Catra. 

“Thank you Crop Top. And thanks Scorpia,” Catra said looking between the two. 

“Oh hey you guys are back!”  _ thank fucking god.  _ Adora had walked up, munching on some kind of giant lollipop. Entrapta and Perfuma not far behind, Entrapta carrying a box of cupcakes. 

“There you two are! We've worried sick! Why did you run off like that? And now look! We're behind by 4 minutes! The music is going to start soon,” Glimmer yelled, appearing out of nowhere behind Bow and glaring at both Catra and Adora.

“Wait, music?” Scorpia said. Catra was glad Scorpia asked so she didn't have to. This wasn't part of the itinerary. 

“Tomorrow is the last new moon before Fall so they use that as an excuse to throw an end of the Summer party!” Perfuma threw up excited hands. 

Like it was planned, live music started playing in the background somewhere. 

“I guess they're starting!” Adora said happily and also totally avoiding all of Glimmers questions. And glares. 

Oof it looked like a lot of people were congregating around a big ass stage with a band on it. Evidently where this celebration was starting. As long as Catra kept Adora and her friends around she could get through this. 

A barbeque kitchen had been set up shop off to the side of the stage. The carousel was a beacon of light on the other side of the celebration creating quite a lot of light for everything as the sun would be setting soon. Catra had to admit it looked pretty amazing the way the lights danced around as the carousel turned. 

Somehow, the group found a table big enough for them, then shifts were divvied up so everyone could get food without losing their spot. 

"Hey Bow, wanna dance?" Glimmer said after everyone had eaten. 

"Do you even need to ask?" bow said standing up, offering Glimmer his hand. 

One by one everyone stood up and meandered to the dance floor. Eventually it was just Catra alone with Adora at the table. 

"Do you want to dance?" Adora asked.

"Nah, too many people plus I've never enjoyed dancing. You go for it though," Catra said, watching the crowd move to the music. 

"I've never been one for dancing myself. I was being polite. It's so. I don't know, open? Much too personal a thing being so close to other people." 

"Huh, yeah, I suppose I'm the same way then. Never thought of it that way." 

There was a lull in the conversation and Catra went back to people watching. 

“Did you have fun on this trip?” Adora said softly after a short time. 

“Yeah, I guess it didn't totally suck,” Catra drawled like an asshole and turned back to face Adora. Had she scooted closer? 

“I'm so happy to hear that you asshole,” Adora smiled.

“What the fuck? When did you start cussing?”

“Im easily influenced.”

“Apparently. It's only going to get worse if you keep following me around.”

“It's easy to follow you.”

“I uh. Yeah,” Catra stammered.  _ Holy fuck.  _

Time froze and something sparked in Catra somewhere in her soul and somehow she knew Adora felt the same way. 

Adora was subtly leaning towards Catra. 

It wasn't much of a conscious thought as Catra followed suit until she finally met the chapped lips Adora always had. It was warm and comforting and felt so amazing against Catra’s own lips. She took in as much of the world around her as she could. 

The faint light from the carousel through her closed eyes. 

The smell of candy and corndogs.

The petting zoo on the far end of the street. 

The feeling of tenderness that Adora exuded through her contact. 

Time began to speed back up once their lips parted. 

“Oh no, I'm so sorry. I forgot to ask you if I could um kiss you. I wanted to I promise-”

“Shut up you idiot,” and Catra closed the distance again to force Adora to calm down. Catra was appreciative of Adoras thought process as far over thought as it was. She whispered in front of Adora’s lips, “I told you I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be.”

“Okay,” Adora breathed deeply. “Okay. um. Now what do we tell everyone else?” 

“I suppose we should stop beating around the bush with them huh?”

“Yeah, probably.”

…

Catra sat next to Adora in their chair on the porch stargazing. It was spectacular. The night sky twinkled and the milky way was easily visible. 

The night  _ smelled _ like fall. 

“Ooh over there. I saw a shooting star,” Adora said pointing. 

“I think I saw that one too. Was it almost green colored?” Catra said.

“Yeah! Noice.” 

Everyone had gone in a while ago. It was starting to get cold but the sky was crystal clear and perfect for stargazing. 

Adora hadn't complained about the cold once. She’d thrown on a hoodie at some point but Catra was bundled up in her coat with a hat and everything. 

“How are you so warm?” Catra shivered.

“Ehh. I've always been a warm body,” Adora shrugged.

“But you weigh like 25 lbs soaking wet, where are you keeping it all?”

“I don't know. Always wondered though. Do you want some?” Adora said not waiting for an answer before, well, glomping Catra. 

Fuck, how was she so warm?

“Oooh yeeah. Mmm…,” Catra purred against her will. She swallowed trying to get it to stop. 

“I knew it! You've been actually purring all weekend. I’m not crazy!”

“Wait really? I mean hey, no way! I definitely haven't been purring.”

“I might be an idiot but I'm not dumb. You. Are a purrer,” Adora crossed her arms looking proud. How did she look so beautiful even when she was tormenting Catra like this?

“Okay fine. I guess there's been once or twice where I might have purred. They were vague instances though.”

“Of course,” Adora said with a far too smart assy smile. 

“Ugh!”

And Adora laughed the cutest laugh Catra had ever heard.  _ Oh god she's snorting again. Fuck I love it.  _

A quick yank pulled Adoras lips into Catras and Adora shut up real quick. 

“We should probably go inside. Its getting pretty cold out.” Catra said as they parted. 

“Yeah. Im beat. Today was awesome.”

Catra didn't say anything as she stood up and held out a hand to Adora with her best smile. 

Adora seemed to catch what Catra was saying because she smiled too and took Catras hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a lovely chapter to write c: so fluffy! 
> 
> If you want to check out all my social media accounts, check out my Linktree at linktr.ee/Raesforge
> 
> Until next time, stay safe. 
> 
> Love you all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you all had a good thanksgiving if you celebrated and did your best to stay safe. 
> 
> First of all, this chapter is kinda dark and there is no fluff. Conflict is introduced that fuels the second half of the story so read at your own discretion. 
> 
> TW: Outing of a character against their will. 
> 
> However! I already have the following chapter (chapter 8) already edited and ready to be posted. It begins the healing process this chapter brings up and I am intending to post that chapter in a day or two so the angst doesn't hang heavy for long.   
> With that said, i hope you all enjoy and are having a safe and happy holiday season.

It really happened didn't it? She really kissed Catra. She had been making Adoras heart flutter all day with her, everything, honestly. 

_ I really couldn't help myself the way her eyes were looking at me. _

Of course then she and Catra had to spend the rest of the night being absolutely grilled by everyone once Scorpia saw them kissing and began screaming louder than the music. 

Catra seemed pretty okay with everything luckily. She stood shoulder to shoulder with Adora for the rest of the night and brought forth so much more personality than Adora was capable of making. 

Even though she kept joking about it, the thought of telling her friends made her blood pressure go up. They always asked more questions than Adora wanted to answer. 

Catra did most of the talking. 

Adora could still feel the ghost of Catra's arm wrapped around her waist. 

“ _ Wha- oh fu-shit,” _ Adora was drawn out of her thoughts and back to the room around her. 

“Hey Catra, you okay?” she spoke softly towards the bathroom. 

“ _ Hmm? Uh yeah, yup. Totally good.” _

“Okay, let me know if you need anything.”

Catra must be feeling car sick again. Those dirt roads are probably hell. 

Just as Adora was really starting to kind of freak out about whether or not Catra was okay in there, the toilet flushed and the sink turned on. 

“Hey, you feeling okay?” Adora said as Catra opened the door. 

“Yeah. Amazing, ” Catra said bluntly, not looking at Adora. 

Adora was smart enough to know that tone. 

“You okay? It looks like you have something on your mind.”

“No. I don't. I just need to go to bed," Catra said as she swiftly got into bed and turned away from Adora to look at her phone. 

The screen was of the weather forecast. 

Adora cleared her throat, “Ookay. Um goodnight. Then.”

And Catra was silent. After a few minutes, Catra slammed her phone on the table and turned off the light on her side of the bed. 

Adora almost reached out a hand but felt it better to leave Catra alone.

… 

Sunday morning came late. The sun never rose even as the sky got lighter. It was completely overcast. A chilly breeze carried the smell of snow, a stark contrast to the sunny day before. 

Just as the Ultimate Pal Squad awoke in the morning, the beginnings of flurries fell from the sky.

Within an hour, a full on blizzard roared around the cabin making it hard to see the parked cars outside. The feeling of being safe and secure inside a warm cabin with lots of blankets and firewood put Adoras usual anxiety at peace. Too bad it wasn't enough today. 

As soon as Adora woke up she found Catra had already been up for several hours pacing and watching the windows. She wouldn't engage with anyone unless talked to directly and the answers she gave were more than a little short. 

Adora tried and tried not to think about it, but she couldn't help but find the timing of Angry Catra and their kiss from last night a coincidence. 

She seemed so happy, but maybe she was having second thoughts. 

Or Adora had finally gone too far too fast. Had somehow read Catra wrong. That Catra couldn't bear to be around Adora now. 

Catra mostly hung by Entrapta and Scorpia whispering when they thought no one was looking. Adora for her part did everything she could to help Catra but she was apparently not in the mood for anything Adora had to say. 

Perfuma seemed put off as well since Entrapta wasn't sitting next to her. She tried to hide it like Catra was trying to hide her jitteriness and failed badly. 

At some point Perfuma even came over and sat next to Adora.

“Do you know what's wrong with Entrapta? She hasn't talked to me hardly at all today,” Perfuma asked as she plopped down sadly. 

“I don't know. Catra is mad too I think. I think I hurt her feelings,” Adora responded. Her fingers were starting to get sore from fidgeting with the hem of her shirt so much.

“I thought everything was going well for you two!”

“I did too. I think I messed up somehow.”

“Oh love I'm sorry,” Perfuma draped herself over Adora comfortingly and they shared a long hug. “Do you want to watch a movie? This weather always puts me in the mood for movies!”

“Um. Yeah, let's do it. You pick it, I'll never be able to decide.”

With that Perfuma got up with a new purpose and went to the DVD cabinet and gazed through the movie collection. 

Adora watched Catra as she was almost frantically texting, a scowl on her face. 

Adora desperately wanted to ask Catra what was wrong again but had to stop herself because she knew what Catras answer would be. ‘No, I’m fine. I don't need anything from you’. It was getting harder and harder to avoid so Adora enlisted Bow to work on a puzzle she had found in the board game closet. The puzzle and movie were distracting enough for much of the day. 

“Hey it looks like it's letting up a little,” Glimmer mentioned. Adora had lost track of time somewhere during the second half of LOTR: The Two Towers. 

It was dark now but the snow had lightened up quite a bit. 

“Do you think we’ll be able to get out of here soon?” Catra spoke up immediately, almost cutting Glimmer off.

“Catra we already talked about it, there's no way we're leaving the cabin today, we'd surely take the fast way down the mountain. We’ll try to leave first thing tomorrow once the sun is out.”

Without another word, Catra went back to typing on her phone like Glimmer didn't exist.

When she wasn't texting, she was fiddling hard with her phone case. It wasn't the good kind of fiddling. It reminded Adora of her own ticks during a hard anxiety day. 

She was getting worried. She didn't want to confront Catra in the living room but Adora also felt asking to talk to Catra in private would go over just as poorly. Adora wished she knew the right way to talk to Catra. 

"Hey, hi can I uhh, sit here with you guys?" Scorpia came up to the table where Adora and Bow laboured on the puzzle. 

Bow mumbled an 'mhmm' as he sorted puzzle pieces into similar colors. 

"Yeah sure, we could use the help," Adora said. 

"Thanks!" with that Scorpia sat down and began her own puzzle piece collection. 

After a few minutes Scorpia stopped to answer a text on her phone. Moments later another text and then another. Adora found it hard to focus on the small ding that Scorpia used as a ringtone for whoever she was texting. her patience wore out after the sixth text within 2 minutes. 

"Is everything okay Scorp?" Adora said trying to not put an edge in her voice. 

"Oh uh yeah. Yup! Nothing going on here." 

Bow must have just tuned into the conversation because he gave Scorpia a questioning look. 

"You sure?” Bow asked. “You look like you've got something on your mind."

"Hmm..nope,"  _ ding _ , "oh gimme a sec."

Adora glanced towards Bow who was already giving her a questioning eye, just as confused as Adora. 

_ Where's Catra _ ? 

She had left a little bit ago to use the bathroom but that was about twenty minutes ago.

_ Ding.  _

"Who are you texting? Is everything alright?" Adora said, feeling uneasy all of a sudden. 

Some instinct, a vampire one, tingled annoyingly in Adoras neck. She felt it sometimes when other people were vulnerable. The urge to burn through Glimmers blood in her system suddenly became harder to stave off. 

"Oh yeah totally. I'm just having a uhh.. Heated! Discussion on cats versus dogs with Catra," she paused as a weird look crossed her face, "And Entrapta! Yeah big fight you know."

A tiny, almost imperceptible squeak echoed from somewhere in the cabin. Adoras hair stood on end. 

"What was that?" Adora asked, rubbing the back of her neck to calm the goosebumps.. 

"Huh? What was what?" Bow said looking up from the puzzle. 

"The noise? Didn't you hear it?" Adora asked, as she scanned the room. 

"I didn't hear anything. It must be the storm. It was pretty windy earlier." 

A gust buffeted the side of the cabin to prove Bows point. 

No one else seemed to have heard the noise, they didn't look up or acknowledge Adoras question. Did she make it up amongst the noise inside her head? 

She noticed Scorpia was clutching her phone. She was looking at the puzzle but Adora could almost smell the worry coming off her. 

Not as much of a fan of mountain snowstorms as adora it seemed

Dang, she needed to calm down. 

So did Adora. 

It had already been an anxiety heavy day so she was likely falsely on edge. She focused back into the puzzle and tried to drown everything out. 

Just as she almost made it to that meditative state again, the grandfather clock dinged in the new hour. 

The goosebumps came back. 

Adora looked around her as nonchalantly as she could so no one would notice. 

"Where's Catra? She's been gone a minute," Adora said to the room but mostly to Scorpia. 

"She said she had to pee, it's fine Adora," Glimmer said easily without looking up from the TV. 

"That was like half an hour ago."

"She's a big girl, she'll figure it out."

That did nothing to satisfy the pull Adora was feeling. Her bones were restless. Her stomach gurgled and for god sakes her leg would not stop bouncing. Something was off. 

Somewhere somehow. 

It must be her anxiety. 

_ Breathe.  _

That didn't work. 

_ Breathe damn you. _

Nope. 

Adora stood up, "I think I'm gonna check on her, just to be safe. What if she got food poisoning? I'll be right back." 

Scorpia looked like she wanted to say something but Adora didn't wait to hear what she had to say. 

Adora needed to figure this out. 

She was usually wrong about stuff. 

But her vampire instincts had proven to be fairly accurate in the past, even if it was something Adora tried not to think about too much. 

In the hall, the door to Adora and Catras room was open and the room was dark. The bathroom door was shut and the light was off. 

_ This is the only bathroom Catras used on the trip.  _

Glancing through the other bathrooms in the cabin, Adora found all of the doors open. 

The only spot left was the closed bathroom. 

Why would Catra be peeing in the dark like that this early in the evening? Adora went to knock but stopped herself. 

Maybe she should ask scorpia to check on Catra? 

_ But I'm already right here. Even if she's mad at me, I still want her to be okay. _

If Catra never wanted to see Adora again after this weekend…

Adora knocked softly on the bathroom door. 

"Hey, you okay in there Catra? You've been in there for a while."

No answer. 

No signs of movement. 

Adora knocked again louder. 

“Hey, Catra?”

One more knock.

No answer. 

"Catra?" 

No answer. 

Adora went blind to the world as her heart clogged her throat, followed quickly by the agrenaline leaking from it as it was slam dunked back into her chest. 

Adoras worst fears came crashing in at once. 

Adora felt for the knob, and tested the door. 

Unlocked. 

The inside was dark. 

The bathroom was empty. 

No Catra. 

A tiny howl of wind alerted Adora to the window and the small gap where it was very slightly ajar. 

"Where's Catra?" Adora walked briskly into the living room. Panic threatening to take over. 

"She said-" 

"She's not in any of the bathrooms." 

The attention of the room shifted to Adora. Everyone cluing in to Adoras fear. 

"Catra!" Adora yelled in the cabin, looking around for any sign of her. 

"Calm down,” Mermista said, “I'm sure she's around here somewhere. Maybe she snuck outside?" 

"Catra hates the cold. And her jacket is still here," Bow said, pointing to Catras coat hanging next to the front door. 

Adora lept to the front door and opened it, letting the wind and snow in. It wasn't a blizzard anymore but it was still snowing enough to make vision limited somewhat. 

Of course Catra was nowhere in sight.

Adora sprinted around the entire patio, bare socks soaking through as she looked in every chair. 

Empty. 

"Catra!" Adora called out to the forest. 

No movement from the trees. 

More panic.

“Guys! She's not here!” Adora yelled running back inside. Everyone was beginning to talk and rouse themselves to what sounded like a real situation. 

“I'm sure she's nearby. Why would she go outside and not tell anyone?” Glimmer said worriedly. 

Another wave of  _ something _ assaulted Adoras brain. She could feel it in the air. The vampiric instincts told Adora in every way they could that a much better meal than angelic blood was out there. 

“Oh god I think she's hurt!” Adora said, going back to the front door. 

“Adora wait!” Bow yelled, “you don't know that, I'm sure she's just fine. Come back inside before you’ll catch a cold.”

“You know that won’t happen Bow.”

“Woah woah hey guys,” Scorpia jumped in, “it's going to be uh alright? Yeah it's gonna be fine! She probably needed some fresh air. I think we should give her some space.”

“Without her shoes or coat?” Mermista asked.

“She had a second coat in the car-”

The arguing continued. 

No one was moving fast enough. 

Everyone was losing sight of the problem. 

_ I could get to her.  _

Adora reached for a coat and pair of shoes.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Glimmer said coming into view. 

“Adora, stop,” Bow said, seeing what Adora was doing. 

“I can help her. You know I can.” Adora replied to both of them

“That is statistically unlikely,” Entrapta said, looking up from her phone. 

“Listen to us Adora, you know it's a bad idea to go out there right now, you don't want to lose yourself,” Glimmer said. 

"Why? Because I'll be hauled off to prison or something? I can do this. I can handle myself. This is too important. I'm going to help my friend."

Glimmer tried to refute but adora could see her logic. 

Another moment and Adora took the coat and ran out the door. The sounds of more arguing faded as she bounded into the forest. 

As she ran, she did what she'd been told for so long not to do. 

Adora let herself falter. Glimmers blood boiled away leaving behind hunger and nullifying the cold. 

Her eyesight intensified and her hearing sharpened. 

She didn't need to track Catra so much as smell her out. 

She should probably be worried about becoming too feral. But she needed to help her friend. 

And deep deep down, she wanted to succumb. To not hold back. It was exhilarating simply because she had never done it willingly before. 

The forest was absolutely quiet in the dark snow.

It was almost too cold to get Catras scent, but a track here and there gave Adora enough to keep going. 

How could this happen? Why did this happen? 

Was Adora the reason Catra ran off?

Adora thought and thought to herself. 

Losing herself to it.

As she continued to spiral, Catras scent shifted. Or rather something else was mixed with it. 

It was intensely natural. And very different. 

_ Oh god what if an animal found her? _

Adora started running through the snow trying to find the source of the change and find Catra faster.

Had Catra been attacked? What if she was hurt? Bleeding? 

_ What do I do if I find her bleeding?  _

The smell ceased to grow and just sort of encased Adora. This was the epicenter. 

Where was Catra? 

Just the forest crushing her with silence. 

No sign of the change in her scent.

Adora followed her nose to a tree, a crook in the trunk caught her attention. 

Or rather it was the neatly folded pair of jeans inside. 

Catra wouldn't do that willingly in this cold. 

Maybe it wasn't an animal Adora was smelling along with Catra. 

“Catra!” Adora cried, trying to find her friend, “can you hear me? Please, Catra! If you have her bring her back! I'll fucking kill you if you touch her!" Adora bellowed to the trees. 

Waiting, watching everything around her, Adora waited. A small crunch in a tree behind her caught her ear. She swiveled to it, ready to pounce. 

Nothing. 

Silence. 

Then out of a shrub nearby, a blur of motion finally gave Adora a reason to chase.

“Catra!”

No response.

The thing leaped around a tree away from Adora. The smell of Catra going with it.

Adora let more of her humanity go. The vampire consumed more of her. With it, she got hungrier and hungrier. 

It would be so easy to slip into the point of no return.

She wouldn't wake up for days, no memories of what happened during that time. 

The creature stumbled through a tall juniper just as Adora caught up and a large branch caught and slapped her across the face. 

“Give her back!” Adora screamed, voice not sounding like herself

She held her stinging cheek as she climbed through the juniper that had just attacked. 

In the noise of the chase, Adora thought she heard her name. 

The being ran faster through the trees but Adora could tell its speed was becoming labored. 

Even though it was faster than Adora, her advantage was her stamina. 

Adora would outlast the creature and save Catra. 

As the creature ran and leaped between the trees, Adora easily followed it. 

“You can't run forever!” Adora screamed.

The creature looked behind it, Adora could see fear in its eyes. 

_ Good.  _

The wind sounded like Adoras name again. 

“ _ Shit! _ ” Adora heard as the creature toppled over a fallen branch. Grunts of pain reverberated as the creature fell.

It hit the ground hard, not moving. 

In a matter of seconds Adora was there, still with the strength to fight. She needed her friend back. 

Where was she? 

It was just… What even was it? It still smelled like Catra. 

Where had it put her? Adora had heard Catras voice. 

Adora fought the urge to eat. 

She was so hungry now. 

The thought of a good meal… 

It was getting hard to ignore.

\---------

There were many supernatural beings in the world according to Catra. Scorpia had never seen any others besides Catra and even then she'd only seen Catra in her werecat state a handful of times. 

Scorpia sat on the couch biting her nails hard. She couldn't move since Adora ran out the door. 

Entrapta wore the same look as Scorpia. She knew how bad this could be. 

If Adora got hurt because she was worried about Catra? If she somehow got lost in the forest. How would Catra take it? 

Catra of course would be fine, she assured both of them that she would be able to handle the cold just fine in her transmogrified state. 

It was the only way to keep Catra from being outed against her will. 

Scorpia and Entrapta had spent all day helping Catra, trying to come up with a way out of the cabin so she could get through the night. 

"Glimmer get out here now! She’s back!" Bow shouted through the door before running back outside. 

Scorpia bolted to the door. 

Adora was coming out of the trees. Bow waved and ran towards her. She was carrying something big. 

"Adora!" Glimmer came running out from her room. 

Already walking inside, Scorpia could see what she was carrying. 

Crap. 

Oh no. 

Oh geez.

It was Catra. 

As a werecat. 

Oh man she was going to be mad when she woke up. Scorpia kneeled next to her to see that she was unconscious but okay. 

She looked up, opening her mouth to talk to Adora but stopped when she saw Adora hunched over Glimmer's hand and, sucking on her finger? Like really sucking going at it. 

"You okay?" Glimmer asked gently as Adora did… Whatever she was doing. 

"What the heck is going on?" Scorpia asked. Glimmer got busy bandaging her finger like it was nothing as Adora turned away from everyone hunched over. Perfuma came over, giving a blanket to Adora. 

"Nothing. What is this thing?! Scorpia, you shouldn't be sitting so close to it!" Glimmer said. 

"Not it, her. And what do you mean nothing? You cut your finger open and Adora went to town on it!" Scorpia looked around the room for answers and found everyone wearing the same face of knowing and hiding that Glimmer had. Entrapta for her part seemed to be analyzing everything around her piecing things together. 

"Her? This is a sasquatch or something right? And haven't you noticed that Catra is  _ missing?"  _

"Adora had her hoisted up like she weighed nothing, she has to weigh 300 lbs when she's like this. What's up with that?" 

"You didn't answer my question."

"And you're avoiding mine!" 

"Guys please don't fight, everythings hard enough right now," Adora said with a gravelly voice looking pale as a ghost. 

Was her hair a different color? It was gray. Like the blonde had been leeched out and left lifeless frizzy hair. "I found them and they smelled like Catra. I ran them down and they hit their head falling over a tree branch. I brought them back since I couldn't find Catra and I was running out of time."

"Geez I really wish you hadn't brought her back," Scorpia said, petting Catras unconscious head gently. 

"What do you mean, her?" 

"Well, uh, you see, oh boy, um, Entrapta can you help me out here?" 

Scorpia was greeted with silence followed by a low groan. 

"Ow my fucking head," Catra slowly grumbled out before opening her eyes. 

"Oh geez. Please don't be angry. I guess the cats out of the bag wildcat. I'm sorry."

Catra opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings before anger flashed and she shot up. Her long cat ears and tails stood straight on end and fluffed up completely.

"What the fuck is going on?! How did I get here?! " 

"It's a story Wildcat. Hey, remember to breathe," Scorpia said, trying to be as soothing as possible.

"You!" Catra shouted and pointed at Adora. "you knocked me out and brought me back here!"

"Wait. Catra?” Adora said. 

“No shit sherlock, what did you expect from me on the evening of my transmogrification?”

“Wait. But... You didn't tell me,” Adora said, looking down, hugging the blanket closer to her. “I didn't knock uh you out. You um slipped and hit your head while I was following you,” Adora defended.

"Bullshit. And how the hell did you keep up with me? How did you find me in the middle of the forest in the freezing cold?" 

Scorpia looked to Adora who held a withered expression. It was something she'd been trying to get out of Bow and Glimmer since Adora ran into the woods without a second glance. 

"I um followed your scent. I knew something was… wrong, so I followed you when I realized you uh weren't in the cabin."

"You followed my  _ scent _ ?" Catra said, "Wait. Pale skin and hair. Your eyes are a different color. Christ, you're a vampire, aren't you?" Catra paused. "and you didn't tell me?" 

"I wan-" 

"and you brought me back here after I asked you to keep my secret?" 

"I di-" 

"You know what? Save it, I realized I don’t care what you have to say anymore," Catra said, tears rolling down the fur on her cheeks. "I thought I could trust you. I don't want to see you again. Scorpia, Entrapta, we're leaving tomorrow at 7 sharp. Be ready or I'm leaving you behind." Catra took a long look around the room.

“WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT?” Catra screamed. Everyone backed away from her. 

“Cat-,” Adora started to say. 

“Don't talk to me!" Catra’s voice cracked. "how fucking dare you. You did this. You don't get to use my name anymore. You're as bad as my whole fucking family. Fuck you. FUCK ALL OF YOU!” Catra again screamed to the room.

“Stop," Scorpia said, putting herself between Catra and everyone else. "go. We’ll be ready tomorrow morning.”

Catra glared at Scorpia, red hot anger in her eyes. The thought that Catra might attack Scorpia crossed her mind. Her eyes were bloodshot, slitted pupils almost too thin to see. Her teeth bared themselves every other word.

“I'm out of here,” Catra finally said, turning away towards the door. 

"Wait wher-" Bow tried to start. 

Catra was already gone. 

Silence stretched for what felt like years. Scorpia tried to process everything. 

It didn't work, so she did the next thing she knew to do, help her friends. 

"Entrapta, pack your bag. We'll be up early tomorrow." 

…

Scorpia packed her bag first before building up the courage to go to Catra and Adoras room to get all of her things. 

She stood in front of the closed door not wanting to knock. She wasn't mad at Adora but she  _ had _ inadvertently hurt her friend and that did not sit well. 

Finally she rapped on the door a few times. 

"It's open," a voice behind the door said. 

"I'm only here for a second,” Scorpia said, slowly opening the door to a dark room, "to pack her bag. Uh which drawer did she use?" 

In the darkness Scorpia saw Adora lift an arm out of the covers to point at the dresser, "top left," a muffled voice came from the bed.

As Scorpia got to work she felt eyes staring into her neck. She tried to ignore it but it didn't take long to get the best of her. 

"I can feel you staring into my soul." 

"Are you scared of me now?" The voice from the covers asked. 

Scorpia was taken aback. It was eerily similar to how Catra sounded when she revealed herself to Scorpia and Entrapta in high school. 

"No. You've never given me a reason to fear you."

Silence.

"I’m sorry," Scorpia continued. "it shouldn't have happened. We’re usually better than to let her be away from home near the new moon," Scorpia said. 

"Why didn't she say something?" 

"I'd wager for the same reason you didn't tell her." 

More silence gave Scorpia her answer. 

"This isn't the first time this has happened to Catra." 

The sheets on the bed curled up ever tighter. 

"Her parents outed her to the entire high school class after they found out she had told Entrapta and myself. It was a difficult time for her. But, you obviously mean something to Catra if she told you about the real her. You're in a very exclusive club. You wouldn't have outed her if you knew what was going on, yeah?" 

"No, I know what that life is like. But she doesn't care anymore. The way she looked at me." 

"Give her some time. Her emotions can get… intense, when she transmogrifies. It's not an excuse but it might help put you at ease. And if you know her at all you'll know she's the queen of holding grudges and acting on impulse."

Scorpia zipped the last pocket of Catras suitcase closed. 

"Scorpia?" 

"Mhm?" 

"Can you tell her I'm sorry?" 

"No problem," Scorpia paused to put on her award winning smile even though it was too dark to see anything. "give her a month or two, you'll be right as rain before you know it." 

"Yeah. Thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!   
> Again, the next chapter will be up in a few days to bring down the angst.
> 
> If you want to check out all my social media accounts, check out my Linktree at linktr.ee/Raesforge
> 
> Until next time, stay safe.
> 
> Love you all.


	8. Chapter 8

The house party raved as it had the past hour Catra had been there. A friend of a friend of a friend invite. Or something. According to Scorpia. Basically, Scorpia was invited and subsequently dragged Catra along to ‘Get out of the apartment’.

Could it be called an act of defiance to make herself DD and not allow herself to enjoy any part of the evening? Perhaps. Catra didn't listen to any BS that wasn't contrary to her opinion. 

At least she could pretend to be a good friend, making the excuse it was only so Scorpia could have a good night and she wouldn't have to worry about Entrapta deciding to try her hand at Real Life roads that weren't controlled with joysticks. 

As if everything else wasn't bad enough, Catra noticed Glitterball and Croptop around the lively house, swerving a little bit and being very huggy on everyone they talked to. 

Of freaking course. 

Which meant Adora wouldn't be too far away. 

Catra found the biggest house plant she could find and sat behind it to play invisible for the rest of the night.

She didn't want to talk to Adora. She really didn't want to talk to Glitz and she definitely didn't want to talk to  _ anyone  _ else at the party. 

Catra hadn't heard from Adora or had she done anything to reach out since the cabin.

She was still so mad. And embarrassed. And hurt. 

A vampire. What a wild coincidence. Catra hadn't met many other cryptids outside of her own family circle and its close friends. 

Adoras friends must have known too based on how they reacted to Adora. 

Were any of them not fully human too? Were none of them? 

Would it be too presumptuous to think that mermista was probably a mermaid? 

Sea hawk just looked like an idiot enthralled by a siren. 

Same with Bow, he was talented in ways only full blooded humans can be. 

What about Glimmer and Perfuma? 

Good question. They were a bit of an enigma to Catra except that she knew she had this weird love hate sister relationship thing with Glimmer that Catra hadn't fully unraveled yet. 

And she knew Perfuma and Entrapta were most likely a thing. But Perfuma had also fairly close to Scorpia recently as well. 

_ Wait, were those hang outs actually dates between Entrapta and Scorpia over the last couple of weeks? _

Ooh, that explains some stuff. 

Catra had to too in her own head to see it and lamely assumed they were meeting up with Perfuma and Scorpia was just fifth wheeling hard. 

Aww fuck, speaking of Perfuma. Catra spotted the plant girl mingling with Scorpia. 

_ How many of them are here?  _

_ Thirty-six, cou- Shut the fuck up Vernin.  _

From her dark corner of the house, Catra finally saw her. Blonde hair almost taking a dip in her red cup. Adora was on the couch in the living room (Catra stashed on the landing with the cat) looking depressed. 

Another moment of solem staring, and Adora threw back whatever was in her cup. 

Apparently vampires can get drunk. 

The act did things to Catra's heart. In the bad way, but not because she wanted Adora to suffer. 

The thought of Adora not taking care of herself was...

Catra wanted to be mad. Furious.

Adora lied to, then followed with outing Catra. To a bunch of people. 

Had made that awful shitty situation infinitely worse.

Catra turned away to look at something else.  _ Well now I want a fucking drink.  _

_ Looks like Scorpia and Perfuma are really hitting it off tonight _ . 

They talked animatedly at each other in their extroverted ways. Catra tried to lose herself to observing the two ladies clearly flirting in their shy but extroverted ways. The anger was bitter and slow to subside. 

Catra had initially thought the anger would be easier. Easier to keep fresh. It had been so easy with her parents. 

It was just tiring now. That in and of itself was frustrating. 

Unable to people watch (creep) any longer, Catra downed the last of her coke before gently picking up the cat and putting it down next to her and snuck away from her spot. 

She was better off alone anyway. Right? 

That had been the ongoing plan. But was she then falling into the tendencies she saw in her family growing up? 

Would she ever be able to trust Adora again?

The thought was oddly frightening. 

Catra meandered through the house, taking the long route to the kitchen where snacks and more sugary drinks could be found. Unfortunately, this was the kind of party where the bar cooler was a lot bigger than the regular drinks cooler. The food was in the same, sad state. 

Sighing at the slim pickings, Catra was reaching for a new soda when a presence next to her appeared. 

“Hey, how's it going? You wanna dance lovely?” Catra turned to see a Chadthaniel staring at her, smile not reaching his eyes. 

Catras neck prickled.

“Ehh no, I'm good thanks. I'm just here to drink away my sorrows,” she said flatly.

“Well it looks like you're in front of the wrong beverages then. Would you like me to make you something stronger? We could go for a dance afterwards to get your mind off of everything. My name’s Tim. What's yours?” the bro, Tim, apparently, said.

“I said no dude. Get outta my face, I don’t want to dance,” Catra said, bite in her voice. This guy wasn’t taking the hint.

“You don’t need to be rude, I'm just trying to be nice here. We could hang out on the couch instead, and talk about what's bothering you?” the creepy glint in this dude's eyes twinkled. 

“Let me be clear. I'm here with some friends. I'm not interested in dancing or hanging out or any of that shit. Now get out of my face dude.”

“Geez bitch, I'm just trying to be nice here and you're all freaking out. All I wanted to do was make you feel better and this is what you give me?” he made a move but stopped midway. 

A hand had fallen hard on his shoulder that shook this fuckers brain hard enough to stun him. He winced and began trying to shrug away from it. It didn’t work.

“She said no, now get the fuck out of here before I make your lips kiss your own ass,” a voice said from behind this guy.

“Yeah, yeah of course, I'm outta here anyway,” he said, still wincing but trying his best to look manly about it. Catra couldn't help but smile at the tears forming in the corner of his eyes. 

Another second passed before the hand removed itself from his shoulder and he vanished into the crowd of people. In his wake, stood none other than Adora. A serious look in her almost glowing eyes. She eyed Mr. Loser until he was completely out of sight before letting her gaze come back to Catra. 

“Hey, ye good?" Adora slurred, her serious face melting away into a full on dingus expression. "I saw tha guy botherin ya.”

Big dumb drunk blonde jock bitch. 

“Yeah. I guess,” Catra said, somewhat dumbfounded. Wait no, she's supposed to be mad at Adora, “I had him by the way. You didn’t need to step in, I can take care of myself,” Catra folded her arms in front of her and looked away. 

“Oh my god I'm soo sorry Catra. You're just so strong and smart and brilliant and strong. You don need m' around," Adora slurred sadder and more pathetic as she went.  _ Oh fuck you, you better not drunk cry in front of me. _

"Adora! There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Glimmer yelled as she popped out of nowhere.  _ This keeps getting better and better.  _

"Glimmer! Look who I found?!" Bow yelled walking up, Scorpia in tow while Entrapta and Perfuma trailed not far behind. 

"Oh my god guys! It's been too long!" Glimmer leapt up and hugged Scorpia and Entrapta. 

Maybe if she timed it right, Catra would be able to sneak out before anyone realized she was there.

"Catra, look who it is!" Scorpia said as her hug finished. 

"Oh wow,” Catra monotoned, ”I hadn't seen any of you. It's. So nice to see you all again," Catra gritted out, hoping she wouldn't burst the pop can she was currently holding. 

"Perfuma and Entrapta here were just tel-" 

Catra took that moment to slip out of the group and made her way outside. 

Fuck it was getting cold this late in the year. Catra could easily see her breath. It kind of reminded her-  _ No. Stop. Don't think about that night.  _

She stood, breathing and pacing in the front yard trying to block out the music and people inside the house. 

She felt a presence enter her space. 

"Fuck off, I want to be alone," Catra said opening her eyes maddly towards the presence. 

"Is that really you Catra? I thought I caught your scent somewhere on the property," said the person standing in front of Catra. The voice was familiar. 

"Jules? What the fuck are you doing here? Does the rest of the family know you're here?" Catra said as her wheels turned at a million miles an hour. 

"No! I mean. Sort of. Yes and no. They wanted me to find you," said Catras cousin. 

"What do you mean by that? I never want to go back, Jules. You know what they did to me."

"I know, but hear me out. Please. They're sorry. They want you back. We all do. The family misses you Catra."

"Uh huh sure they do. Or do they miss the two hands I have that aren't working the farm? Or running to the general store for smokes? Wait, you're here alone? How long have you been tracking me?" 

"Only a few weeks. I drove here about a month ago. You're not the only one who wants freedom you know," Jules said, conveniently glossing over the former questions. 

"So what? You get a vacation, then drag me kicking and screaming back to my parents house? I'm over 21 now, they can't force me back. I have my own supplier of oil too. I don't need anything from them." 

"Catra? Hey you okay?" another familiar, but equally frustrating voice said behind catra.

"Yes I'm fine, now leave me be, I definitely don't need your help Adora."

"Who's this? Are they from a family out here?" Jules said, turning to look at Adora as she approached from the house. 

"No. And you don't get to ask me who I do and don't know."

"If they’re not part of our family or another were-family, what are you doing associating with this person?" Jules continued genuinely sounding shocked.

There it is.

"Wow you really aren't any better than them are you?" Catra said. 

Jules stood there apparently not knowing what to say while Catras anger continued to grow. 

What a cluster fuck. 

"Just get out of here Jules. I'm not going back and the family, especially my parents, can stick it. Real family doesn't treat their own the way our family treats each other." 

"You don't know anything about the world do you Catra?" Jules' voice grew louder. "we protect each other! You! You're one of us and you always will be. Come home so we can put this all in the past and go back to being a quiet family together again." 

Adora came and stood next to Catra, looming over Jules, "Catra asked you to leave. Please go before I'm forced to help you." Adora growled. 

Jules took a step back. The noise of the party had receded to the background. She must have been calculating her chances. Catra didn't back down on her grimace. At least she had Adora if this went tits up. 

"Catra! There you are!" Scorpias voice broke the stare down and Jules made a quick escape. 

Catras eyes followed Jules until she was out of sight before turning to see Scorpia along with Entrapta, Perfuma, Glimmer and Bow walking towards the scene. 

"Wait, was that your cousin?" Scorpia asked. 

"Yeah. Unfortunately. You guys ready to leave yet? I'm dyin' here." 

"Yup! Buuut we're all super hungry and you're the only one who can drive soooo…" 

“Fuck no!”

“Pa-leassssse?” 

Catra groaned. Maybe a late night snack would help, "ugh. Fine whatever. But I get to choose the place!" 

Whoops and hollers from everyone told Catra she had answered correctly and the gaggle of drunks made their way to Catras car. It was going to be cramped but that was everyone else's problem. 

Catra noticed Adora had been awfully quiet since the exchange with Jules, but her presence was no less known. 

She almost convinced herself the quiet was better than having to talk to Adora. 

Almost. 

Adequately crammed into Catra’s poor sedan, Adora sat in the passenger seat while Bow and Scorpia played car seat to Glimmer and Entrapta respectfully while Perfuma took up approximately three inches of the middle seat being the stick she was. 

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves while Catra played Uber driver. At least she got to choose her favorite burger joint. And the radio. 

Then there was Adora. 

Catra was still trying to be mad at Adora, had been all night. Been fairly mean. 

But she had come to Catras side twice tonight. That meant something. Even if she's a drunk moron. 

_ Drunk talks are sober thoughts or something like that right? _

A single butterfly flapped into motion in Catras stomach.  _ No fuck you, I will not be flattered at those implications.  _

Adora still lied to Catra. 

A vampire.

Catra had been told the stories of feral vampires and classy vampires. It seemed they ran the full spectrum just like were-creatures. 

Looking back, Catra had a hard time thinking of Adora's tells. 

She wondered what the deal between Adora and Glimmer was. Scorpia had mentioned a weird interaction between the two during… that night. 

Adora wasn't looking for a suck buddy in Catra was she? No. Adora had never given Catra any bad vibes. She felt she had a good enough bullshit meter to get out of a dumb situation like that. 

If anything it seemed like adora didn't want to talk about it. 

To a fault apparently. 

Not that Catra really wanted to hear what Adora had to say. 

Adora stayed fairly quiet during the drive, the badass stronk drunk replaced by a sadder stronk drunk.  __

That fire of anger continued to wilt against the being that was Adora.

Catra tried to drown out her thoughts with the radio until she parked. 

The restaurant was empty, thank god, and after orders were put in, Catra begrudgingly stood guard with Adora while their orders were filled. 

Catra listened to everyone having a great time in the back of the restaurant while she and Adora stood awkwardly near the front counter. 

As they waited, Catra kept catching Adora looking in her direction. 

"What?" Catra said sharply. 

"Oh uh.. It's nothing. Sorry," Adora said shyly. 

"I can tell you want to say something. Spill it before you bore a hole in my head with those lasers of yours." 

"I didn't know it was that bad with your family. I'm um sorry for what happened tonight." 

"Sucks ass don't it? Now you know why I don't bring them up much." 

"Order 95," the employee behind the counter said, pushing forward trays of food. 

Catra wordlessly grabbed what she could and Adora took what was left. 

...

"We should have a sleepover at my house!" Perfuma said to the table as everyone munched on their food. 

"Oh my god yes! It'll be so much fun!" Bow added. 

"This is a very logical idea, and we can be sure Catra’s Cousin won't return." Entrapta said as she measured a french fry against a ruler. 

"Nope. No fucking way. Wait what?" Catra said. 

“She kind of has a point Wildcat. How did she even find us at that party?” Scorpia said. 

“My calculations point towards your facebook post as of 5:38PM tonight, remarking an address and something about dogs.”

“What the fuck Scorpia?” interjected Catra. 

“I was excited! There was a lot happening.”

"Now I really want to go home."

"Can you drop us off at least?" Glimmer asked. 

"Guess it's better than driving all over town. Drive em and dump em right?" Catra finished snarkily. 

"Aww c’mon you won't hang out for a little bit?" Glimmer said. 

"Hell no." 

"Are you still mad about the cabin?" Perfuma asked innocently. 

A brief silence. 

God these fucking idiots.

"I gotta pee. You guys better be ready to go when I get back," Catra said automatically, moving to stand up. 

"Guys don't bring it up li-," the rest of someone's sentence was cut off as Catra rounded a corner, making her way to the bathroom. 

She sat in the stall and willed herself to calm down while aimlessly scrolling on her phone. 

She heard the main door to the bathroom open and someone walked in. 

"Catra? You in here?" 

Of course it would be Adora. 

"Occupied." 

"Sorry I just was nervous."

"I can handle myself, thank you very much."

"I know! I just wanted to… I don't know, make sure you didn't run off on your own?" 

"And strand all your drunk asses in this dank restaurant in the middle of the night?" 

"I have anxiety okay? I was worried about you."

Adora was there to make sure Catra was okay?

Likely story. 

"Yeah. I'm still here," Catra said, "now give me a few minutes will ya?"

The bathroom door opened and closed without another word.

Was she being too hard on Adora? 

Eh.

…

"This is our left!" Perfuma yelled, as Catra sped past the turn. 

"Dude you're gonna have to give me. Fuck. More warning than that," Catra fumed as she began looking for a place to turn around.

"Sorry!" Perfuma yelped before burying herself playfully into Entraptas chest next to her. 

Scorpia patted and consoled Perfuma from her position as Perfumas’ seat. Real rough life she was living, to be sure. 

"Oh my god are all you Princesses this emotional when you're drunk?" Catra pouted as she did her best not to cut someone off in oncoming traffic. 

Finally at Perfumas house, Catra waited for everyone to pile out.

The house was nice. Not as crazy as Glitters house but not many people could live up to that level of glamour. 

"Oh man you guys are going to love Perfumas backyard!" Scorpia said to Glimmer and Bow. 

"Yes dear, we know. We've known Perfuma since we were kids," Glimmer said. 

"Oohh riggght." 

“You coming?” Adora asked as she got out. 

“I'm just dropping you guys off.”

“Please? We’ll all miss you." 

Catra snorted, "I'm good. I'll just be a party pooper." 

"What if you just slept here? I- we'll all know you're okay then." 

"You scared I'm gonna get jumped on the way home or something?" Catra grinned. 

Adoras silence made Catra rethink her situation. 

Why would Adora be worried- gah fuck. Jules. 

"No one's making this night easy for me are they?" Catra half said to herself as she started grabbing her shit. 

Getting out of the car, Catra followed the line of assholes into Perfumas house. 

The inside was just as above average and homey as the outside. Catra could easily see where the aesthetic of the cabin had come from. 

"Thanks for having us over," bow said looking around, dumping his shit like he owned the place.

"Of course! I'm always happy to have friends over! I love sleepovers!" Perfuma clapped in excitement.

"Where am I sleeping? I need to get to bed," Catra asked. 

"There is a guest bedroom upstairs if you want it. We usually all sleep in the living room together after we make a pillow fort. 

"Cool. Which door? "

"Oh um. Second door on your right."

"Goodnight yall," Catra half salute waved and made her way up the stairs. She didn't listen if anyone called back to her, she really wanted to get some sleep after this dumpster fire of a night. 

In bed, light off, Catra scrolled on her phone waiting for drowsiness to take hold when she heard rioting alcohol from someone in the bathroom across the hall. 

"That's rough buddy," Catra said quietly to herself as she scrolled. 

After a few minutes of silence, sad moans echoed from the bathroom. 

Catra also noticed she hadn't heard anyone else come to the rescue.  _ Does anyone know there's someone in there?  _

Try as she might, her inner mother hen instincts won and groaning, flopped herself out of bed and opened the bedroom door. 

The smell was rank and hit Catra like a sharpened brick as she poked her head out to see the bathroom door wide open and the most pathetic looking Adora slumped against the toilet looking like absolute dog shit. 

"Rum not agreeing with you luv?" Catra asked in a piratey accent. 

Adora answered with another groan. 

Groaning herself, Catra couldn't bear seeing Adora like this and made her way across the hall and found a towel to dampen for Adora. 

"Here. D' you want some water?" Catra asked. 

Adora slowly looked up and grabbed the towel to wash her face before nodding. 

"Alright. I'll go get you some ice water from down stairs. Don't die on me while I'm gone kay? And please flush the toilet." 

On her way to the kitchen, the thought that Catra could so easily dump Adora off on literally anyone else in the house occurred to her. 

Also, why the hell was she even helping Adora anyway? Wasn't Catra supposed to be mad at adora for the rest of time?

_ Then you can go to sleep and sneak out early in the morning like you were planning.  _

This  _ was _ Perfumas house, shouldn't she be running point on shit like this? 

Catra entered the kitchen to realize she had not a fucking clue where the glasses were. 

"Ugh!" Catra said aloud. 

Alas no one was around. Catra thought she could hear a movie playing somewhere in the basement and people talking animatedly. 

Luckily it only took seven or eight cupboards before Catra stumbled upon the glasses and was able to get a big one filled for Adora. 

Back upstairs, Catra turned the corner to the bathroom and nearly had a heart attack when she found the bathroom empty but at least the toilet had been flushed. 

"Adora? Where the fuck are you?" Catra asked the hallway before noticing the door to her room was fully open.  _ Fan fucking tastic, I've seen this movie before.  _

Catra sighed and entered the room to see Adora curled up under the blankets on one side of the bed. 

"Spot stealer," Catra grumbled. 

"Y' can 'ave tha- side," Catra heard the bed say. 

"Ugh, fine. Here's your freaking water. You better thank me tomorrow," Catra said, crossing the room to offer the water to Adora. 

When she finally noticed Catra, Adora got up and took the water and chugged the whole thing. 

"Good job. Now keep it down so I can go to bed." 

"Will do Cap'n," Adora saluted. 

Catra climbed her way back into bed, not sure how to feel.

She could go sleep downstairs. And die trying to sleep on that god awful looking couch. 

Or worse be woken up by a gaggle of drunk maroons. 

"Dude did you even take your shoes off?" Catra asked.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry," Adora said depressed, jolting up and kicking her shoes off. 

"Fuck me. It's fine. Just. Get comfortable but stay on that side of the bed. Alright?" 

"I'm sorry Catra. Please don't be mad at me. I'll be quiet and not bother you and stay on this side of the bed and not say anything at all for the rest of the night. And I'm so sorry about a few weeks ago I never meant for anything to happen and that I totally lied to you an-" 

Catra sighed heavily and squeezed the bridge of her nose as she sat at the edge of her side of the bed and listened to Adora word vomit in the dark. At least this kind of vomit was easier to get out of carpet. 

"Dude it's fine. Can we just not talk about it? I want to get some sleep." 

Catra could feel blue eyes piercing behind her. Could practically see them. 

Adora was being so pathetic right now. 

Sincere.

But pathetic. 

And Catra was being a hard ass.

Some of it deserved! 

But not unforgivable, Catra had decided. 

With enough work.

"You promise?" Catra asked. 

"I promise." 

A pause. 

*Hiccup*

"You're going to forget about all of this tomorrow aren't you?" 

Heavy breathing replaced what Catra was expecting would be Adoras voice. 

She was seriously fucking asleep? What a fucking drama this was turning into. 

Catra watched Adora for another second before lying in bed next to the passed Adora and almost forgetting to plug her phone in. 

Sleep was fast and peaceful though. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter finds you well.   
> This is going to be the second to last chapter of the main arc of this fic. I realized I want to begin new projects so I'm going to wrap this fic up (so there's a satisfying ending) but leave it open ended enough for new chapters in the future. There's so much left to explore in this weird little universe I've made up.   
> If you happen to want to add to this universe, go ahead. Just want to put that out there. Please let me know if you do, I would love to read what other people think about this story!!!   
> Have a good rest of your day, stay safe and don’t forget to love each other.

_ A few weeks or whatever since the party. _

It was a Bad Day. Catra felt it the instant she woke up. The familiar feeling of absolute nothingness with a side of vague anger at everything and everyone.

The kind of day that made it feel like her bed would swallow her completely if she moved an inch or, god forbid, tried to leave it. 

What was the point of waking up everyday? Just another link in the chain of crap that tied her life together. 

_ Why do I have to live through so many of these days? _ Catra thought with a frustratingly low amount of emotion. 

But even on days like this, Catra didn't do second alarms. If she did, she would never get back up. So, once she was up she was up. But she kept her eyes closed and rolled in bed for way longer than she should have. 

Looking at her phone, the time made Catra huff and grumble before plopping her phone down with one last annoyed sigh and sat up. 

_ Work-a-calls _ . Catra thought bitterly.  _ Unfortunately.  _

Switching to autopilot for her normal routine, Catra allowed the empty spaces of her mind to stew and boil at bad memories and difficult times. Whispers of the good things or tools she'd learned to stave off the depression were easily swept aside for bigger, louder negative thoughts. 

Barely eating breakfast (stuffing it down mostly), Catra scrolled aimlessly while she waited for the appropriate time to leave and go to work. 

Some generic cute cat picture scrolled by on Catras feed, making her stop the mindless scroll motion of her fingers. It was objectively cute, and even if Catra was normally a cat person (wonder why?), didn't do it for her this particular morning. 

There wasn't a whole lot going on in her heart today. 

Scrolling up to see who posted it, the familiar icon of Glimmer herself, blew sparkles into Catra's eyes with all the bright colors and hair she was sporting in the profile picture. 

_ The fuck is she doin- _

Oh. Scorpia had liked it, that's why Catra was seeing this. 

Since when were they friends? 

_ The cabin stupid.  _

Everyone had gotten so close together in those two days. 

Except Catra. 

Catra lost something she wanted. Ripped from her as much as she had ripped it apart herself. 

She really could be a bitch when she wanted to. 

Rolling her eyes, Catra kept scrolling like she hadn't seen anything. 

No hunger meant she had lots of time this morning to do nothing at all. She could probably go back to bed for a while before needing to leave but if Scorpia caught her, Catra wouldn't hear the end of it and she hadn't been much in the mood to talk to Scorpia. She never failed to bring up Adora and it burned Catra to no end. 

Couldn't she hate (and avoid) Adora in peace?

No, of course not. Not when Scorpia was around. She was the one who made Catra go to that stupid party where Adora had been. 

Had she done that on purpose?

No. Scorpia wasn't a liar, and when Catra grilled her the next day, Scorpia was genuinely clueless as to Adora and her cronies being at the party.

Of course it had opened up another can of trouble for Catra when Scorpia then grilled her on everything once Adora disappeared and never returned.

It wasn't exactly a honeymoon or anything. Adora threw up, catra got lost in the kitchen, then Adora stole Catras spot in bed, forcing her to sleep like a plank balancing on the side of the bed. 

Catra then had to spend the rest of the night trying not to think about adora sleeping next to her like nothing happened. 

And whether or not adora would remember their conversation at all. 

_ Promise?  _

What a cliche thing to think. 

At any rate, that particular incident had been over a week ago and neither had Catra heard from Adora nor had Catra reached out to Adora. 

She wasn't exactly proud of waking up at the ass crack on dawn to sneak out before everyone woke up. 

Truth be told, Catra wasn't sure what to do. In the moment, she had wanted to forgive adora. The following days brought back the memories of the cabin and everything Adora did and the hurt flared up again. 

Catras depression had been so much worse since that night.  _ Wonder why?  _

Catra looked at the clock on her phone. Almost 45 minutes until she would actually need to leave for work.

_ Ugh _ . 

_ Well maybe I could- _

_ Ugh. don't go to the cafe. They all hate you.  _

_ Do they?  _

Catra remembered the motherly tone Scorpia would get sometimes about Catra needing to learn to reach out and ask for help when necessary. At the very least reaching out to people she cared for. 

Did she care for those people though? The best friend squad  _ knew  _ about her now. They all did. Adora did. 

_ Thanks for that princess.  _

‘Sometimes you need to make that first step Wildcat,’ Scorpia's voice echoed. 

They were all fairly nice during the party and everything afterwards. They were drunk but they were kind. 

Was she ready to do that? She had taken a step with Adora. It hadn't punched her in the face yet.  _ Did the Fist (Adora) remember the conversation? _

And Catra could really go for a frappuccino . 

“Gah, fuck it,” Catra said to her phone screen as she got up from the couch to gather the rest of her shit to head out.

...

Adora enjoyed the first day of her weekend. 

Bow and Glimmer had been too kind to her the last few weeks and she was enjoying the space after everything that had happened. She didn't want to have the special treatment but had to admit it was nice to have her friends backing her up and even giving her space if she wanted it. 

As she lounged in her room like the gremlin she was, a familiar ding alerted her ear to a group chat she didn't think she'd ever hear from again. 

Someone in the Ultimate Pal Squad chat was reaching out it seemed. 

To Adoras surprise it was Entrapta who had begun the conversation. 

Entrapta: There is a discount for tickets at the Botanical Gardens if anyone would like to join me in a day of exciting research and study! 

Glimmer: ooh that sounds like fun :D Bow and I will be there! We haven't been in ages.

Scorpia: I'll be driving Entrapta so I'll be there too! 

Perfuma: spending a day with plants and friends is the best thing I Could ask for <3

The rest of the squad chimed after a while. 

Where did Adora stand? 

She did miss seeing Scorpia and Entrapta. It had been fun getting to know them at the cabin. 

And she had had a good time with them during that party a few weeks ago, at least the parts she remembered. 

It was overall a fun night even if that weird stuff with catras cousin happened. 

She was lucky Catra didn't see her later in the night when the alcohol and cheeseburgers revolted in her stomach. 

And where did adora stand with Catra? 

She missed Catra. More than anything. 

She messed up.

She hoped she would get the chance to apologize (when she wasn't blitzed) for everything. 

Executive dysfunction stopped her everytime she thought to pick up the phone to text Catra. 

Ding.

Catra: I guess I'm in since Scorpia said she'd tie me up and bring me if I didn't say yes. 

Scorpia: I did not! I said I would aggressively hug you into the car and then put the child proof locks on. Love you! <3

Laughter echoed through the chat as everyone caught up. Adora could only watch. Did she want to go? Yes.

Was it all still kinda hella awkward between her and Catra? Also Yes. 

Would her friends be watching her every move now when she was near Catra? Unfortunately Yes. 

Adoras anxiety ran deeper and deeper as she tried to think of every possibility. The prognosis wasn't very positive. She should probably stay home. Give Catra more time alone. 

A different chime alerted Adora to a text from someone else. 

Scorpia: you don't have to come if you don't want to but I might have possibly convinced Catra to come because I said you had already said yes beforehand. 

Adora reread the text until the words stopped sounding like words in her head. Catra was only going because Adora was apparently going?

_ Give her more space. Maybe being around your friends without you would be good for her.  _

But then Catra would be alone against all of Adora friends with no Adora there. 

Or Adora would make it super awkward again. 

Decisions, decisions. 

Before Adora could spiral anymore she shut off her phone screen and set it down to rub her eyes.

She knew how to deal with anxiety. She'd done therapy before but this was so different. Her therapist had never taught her how to deal with accidentally outing someone to your entire friends group as a werecat while simultaneously outting yourself as a bloodthirsty vampire who only has control by feeding on one of her friends/step sister. 

Oh boy, she should email her therapist one of these days. 

Another chime from Adoras phone. It was familiar and terrifying. Adora hadn't heard it since before the cabin. 

She looked at her phone longingly. She knew who the text was from but found herself frozen, unable to move from the spot on her bed. The place she and Catra had slept one time. Adora was next to the pillow that had smelled like Catra for a week after that sleep over. 

Make it awkward? Or maybe start rebuilding? 

Catra wasn't in the best mood during the party but she didn't throw anything at Adora or yell at her. 

Adoras therapist had told her that anxiety was spiraling over the bad thoughts. Excitement is exactly the same thing but with good thoughts. 

It was difficult to see the light in the tunnel sometimes but there is always some Glimmer of hope if you search for it. 

_ Catra had every right during the party to tell me off again but she didn't.  _

Taking a breath, Adora picked up her phone and slid her finger across the screen. 

Catra: Was Scorpia fucking with me or are you really coming tomorrow? I don't think I could handle an entire day with mine  _ and _ your friends crawling up my ass. 

Oh man. This would force adora to commit. 

Here and now and if she backed out it would continue to erode whatever they had left. 

Adora didn't like making decisions like this on her day off. Or any day for that matter. 

_ This is your chance.  _ A fairy whispered in Adoras brain. 

_ Ugh. Why are feelings so hard??  _ Adora screamed in lesbian inside her head. 

Adora: Yeah I was going to go. I’m looking forward to seeing the pine trees this time of year. I'll keep my friends off of you :) 

_ Ugh, that was so over the top. Wasn't it? Dang it.  _

A few moments of silence before another ding.

Catra: Promise? 

Promise. 

Why did that ring a bell in Adoras head? 

It had a fondness to it. Like from almost before the cabin. 

Yeah, Catra was involved. 

'Promise?' 

_ Why am I thirsty right this second?  _

Adora thought of the glass of ice water she found after she threw up the other night. 

Adora had wondered where it came from. 

_ Wait. That means.. Oh crap _

_ What else did I say to her?? I get so dumb when I'm drunk.  _

Well catra didn't seem to hate adora any more than she previously had. That's good right? 

She had just texted adora for the first time in weeks. 

_ Okay, imma go with this and ask her about it later.  _

Adora: Yeah, I promise. Anything you need.

Moving back to the group chat, Adora tried to think of something neutral and non committal to say but still committed enough to not make Catra freak out.

Adora: Yeah I think I can be there. What time are we meeting? 

Boom. Perfect. 

The rest of the day went by painfully slow now that adora had something to look forward to. She wished she didn't work at a coffee shop so she had an excuse to go to one. Alas, Adora was stuck at home until her plans the next day came about. 

That evening Adora was balls deep in a video game when she heard the familiar footsteps of Glimmer coming into the house. It also sounded like she had someone with her. Bow, most likely. 

"You here Adora?" Glimmer's voice came down the stairs over Adoras game.  _ Oh man that was a sick head shot. _

"Downstairs," Adora said easily, not breaking her concentration. 

Down the stairs plotted Glimmer followed closely by Bow. They said their hellos before taking their usual spots on the various furniture that surrounded the TV. 

"How was the shop today?" Adora said to no one in particular. 

"Good. Nothing major." Bow said calmly, "Catra came in." 

"Nice, I hate those crazy-" scratch. Freeze frame, "Whaaaat?" Adora spun her head towards Bow, practically throwing her controller at the TV to pause the game.

Bow was still wearing his uniform and this stupid smile that told Adora he had gotten exactly the type of rise out of her he thought he would. Smart ass. 

"What do you mean she came in today? She hasn't come to the cafe since…"

Bows smile fell a bit. He looked up, at Glimmer, Adora guessed, before speaking, "Yeah, she came in for the usual this morning. She asked how we were doing. It was nice to see her even if she was a little distant during the conversation. She mentioned having had a rough couple of days this last week.”

“Oh. Did she say anything else?”

Glimmer piped up this time, “No, not really. Got her coffee and hoofed it. You should text her,” Glimmer took a seat on the couch next to Adora with a look on her face that Adora couldn't decipher. 

"You think? I don't want to bother her but it would be nice to talk,” Adora said, unsure. 

“It couldn't hurt to at least ask her how she's doing. Text her stupid, I know you two will get over this whole cabin business. I have enough blackmail on you two to know that,” Glimmer finished with a smile. 

“Wait. What? What do you mean blackmail?” Adora questioned, looking at Bow who only shrugged but not very innocently. 

“Don't worry your pretty little head Adora. Text her please. I hate seeing you like this. I know i was… harsh,” Adora shot her a look, “okay, okay. A lowkey bitch when you started hanging out with Catra. But I want you to be happy,” Glimmer put a comforting hand on Adoras shoulder, “and I realize now Catra makes you happy. Open up to her and maybe she’ll open up to you again.”

While Adora processed what Glimmer was saying, arms wrapped around Adora in a warm hug, the Bow Special, and it helped Adoras heart calm down. She took a deep breath. 

“Okay. Alright. Thanks guys,” she patted Bow on his arms to get his to release her which he did, “but seriously, what's this about blackmail?” 

Glimmer smiled deviously before jumping off the couch, “if you text her you'll never have to find out,” she said sticking her tongue out.

“Ugh. I live with the biggest asshole.” Adora said exasperated. 

“Nah, that title goes to Catra,” the smile on Glimmer widened.

Adora threw a pillow at her that Glimmer deftly dodged because of course she did. 

“God just leave me in peace then you butts. Go do your nails or something while I concentrate on more important things,” Adora said waving the game controller in the air. 

Bow and Glimmer laughed and left without much more pain on Adoras part. 

Adora sighed deeply. 

She was about to unpause the game when her phone caught her eye. 

_ Should she get it over with or stew on texting Catra? _

Well apparently Adora would be seeing her tomorrow and she knew Glimmer would hold her to whatever this blackmail was. Adora sighed and picked up her phone. 

Adora: Hi, how have you been? I know it's been a while since we've talked. Bow and Glimmer said you stopped in today. 

Unpausing her game, Adora tried not to think about how long it would take for Catra to text back. 

_ She might not even text back.  _

_ No she texted you.  _

_ That was for the last conversation. This is totally different now.  _

_ And she hates you.  _

_ But she did help you out.  _

_ But she was super withdrawn.  _

_ But…  _

And on and on Adora spiraled in the back of her mind as she launched grenades and shot machine guns. A rather crass joke Adora couldn't help but laugh at rose her spirits some and did some work to break the spiral she had going on. 

When her phone did go off, she jumped and paused her game without thinking, trading the controller for her phone. 

Catra: Depressed as fuck. Send my regards to Glitter for the caffeine today. What about you?

Adora smiled. Catra actually said something light hearted. Maybe things were looking up. 

Adora: Floating through life mostly. Been better. I'm sorry you’ve been depressed. Do you want to talk about it?

When a text did not immediately come back, Adora picked up her controller and kept playing the game. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t check her phone a million times before Catra finally texted her back. 

Catra: Maybe later. See you tomorrow. 

_ Now what do I say? Leave it at that? Would it sound desperate?  _

But damn she was desperate. Adora typed out her last text.

Adora: I'm here anytime. G'night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to know more about what I'm up to, check out my linktree on my profile page for all my social media. (I mostly post on IG, and Tiktok)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! ill post the next chapter in a couple weeks or sooner.  
> Please leave a comment to let me know how you liked it!
> 
> If you want, please send me a Kofi at ko-fi.com/plantsrule
> 
> Thank you for reading this far. Stay safe and enjoy all the beautiful gayness that this fandom has to offer!


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